Homecoming: The ties that bind
by Keeta1283
Summary: This is part 3 to the original story Homecoming. Same story continuation that leaves us questioning Katherine's motives, The Delena relationship, and the wolf problem. Lots more of course, but you'll have to read to find that out :
1. Bend and Not Break

**A/N: Ok same deal as last time. This is the same story just continuing on from last time. So if you're just starting this, click on my profile and read Homecoming first, then Homecoming: Continued. (I figured it's easier to tell you than link it here) Then this story is right after that, no change in plot time difference, etc. And I still don't own any characters, etc. All rights to LJ Smith and CW I suppose, lol. Enjoy!**

Elena felt Caroline's grip tighten as she came to. Smiling at Bonnie in pride, Elena grabbed Caroline and brought her in for a hug.

"Oh my god, Caroline. I'm so glad you're ok," she said with relief. "Bonnie. You're a genius!"

Bonnie smiled in triumph and went over to join in checking on Caroline when everything fell apart.

Without warning, Caroline's head snapped back and she sunk her teeth into Elena's neck. Elena screamed out in surprise, but Caroline wasn't on her long before Stefan and Isobel were tearing her away—her eyes furious and her fangs bared.

Stefan and Isobel were still struggling with her when Elena got up, holding her neck, and scrambled over to Bonnie. "What happened, Bonnie? I don't understand…"

But Bonnie just shook her head in horror, watching Caroline flail around trying to get out of Stefan and Isobel's firm grip. "I don't know…" she whispered.

Seconds later, Alaric stepped in with a dart and jabbed it into Caroline's back. Her response was immediate: a loud shriek and convulsions, followed by a drop to the ground.

Once she was down, Stefan rushed over to Elena.

"I'm fine," she said absently, but she stepped back at the weird look on his face. Before she knew it, Isobel was between her and Stefan. "What the hell…" she murmured.

"Go clean that up. He's got that look in his eyes," Isobel said in reponse, though with some sympathy tinged in her voice. "I know you care about her lover boy, but you look like you're struggling yourself."

"I got it under control,"he snarled at her as he stepped around her to check on Elena.

Elena shook her head and patted Stefan's arm. "It's nothing. I'll clean it off. Take care of Caroline," she said miserably as she left the room to head upstairs.

Once she was gone, Stefan relaxed just a hint but looked both worried and guilty. He angrily turned to Bonnie with an accusatory stare. "I thought you were sure it would work," he said stonily.

"I did everything by the book," Bonnie said shakily, unable to take her eyes off of Caroline's body on the floor. "I don't understand how she turned….everything was working like it was supposed to…"

"Should have listened to me," Isobel said with a told you so face. "You wanna burn that book now?"

"You're not helping, Isobel," Alaric said with a stern look. "Maybe it just never worked to begin with and once she had the human blood in her system, she obviously transitioned."

"It worked," Bonnie said firmly. "Something went wrong, but it was working…"

Out of nowhere, Isobel began laughing. "Oh…this is precious, I think I know what went wrong. I'm just surprised now that you didn't think of it ahead of time…"

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked in confusion.

"Didn't you and Damon save Elena from sudden death not too long ago?" she asked with arched brows.

"Yes...but I don't see where you're going with that?" Stefan responded.

"Think about it…what did Bonnie's spell need to work; all the ingredients it called for. She needed vampire blood, vervain, and human blood," Isobel started.

"We did all that," Bonnie responded impatiently.

"What kind of blood did Caroline need to the heart?" Isobel asked like a teacher asking a student. "Human."

"That's why she used Elena's blood," Alaric said in confusion. "It couldn't be Bonnie's either because of her witch heritage. So it had to me or Elena, and her blood is human."

"But Elena was fed vampire blood…" Stefan began with sudden realization. "Her blood would have been tainted with it for at least 48 hours…"

"So long story short, Elena pumped Caroline full of basically half vampire blood, half her blood. Hence the spell didn't work and the human blood was enough to make her transition," Isobel said. "You guys don't think about these things before jumping into it do you?"

"You knew it wouldn't work…." Bonnie hissed. "You thought of Elena's blood before we began and you didn't say a word."

"Think what you want. I don't care. Just know I was opposed to this from the start. I'm gonna go now," she said lazily. "Have fun with that," she said with a point to Caroline.

"You don't get to just walk away," Bonnie said angrily, slamming the doors to the room shut and staring angrily at Isobel.

"While you're trying pathetically to scare me, may I remind you that you're on a deadline with that book," Isobel said nonchalantly. "You know how Katherine hates to wait. Tick tock."

Bonnie was shaking in anger at that point, but Alaric stepped in between them. "Isobel, did you really know it wouldn't work?"

"No Rick, I didn't," she said still staring angrily at Bonnie. "Sorry that I'm just smart enough to have been the first to figure it out."

Rick sighed and pinched his nose in frustration. "Let her go for now, Bonnie. There's nothing more to do here."

But Bonnie was still standing her ground. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want, princess. Fact of the matter is that you're just a witch playing with fire. You're going to get burned if you don't understand what you're doing," Isobel said sternly. "Now the doors…"

Bonnie sighed out in frustration and opened the doors. "This isn't over," she hissed.

"Never is, is it?" Isobel said as she walked out.

"I'm going to put Caroline in the basement," Stefan said seriously. "She's a danger to everyone right now. And I don't know if you're attempted spell did anything else to her, so I'm not taking any chances."

"I'll help you," Rick said slowly.

"Are you taking the book to Katherine?" Stefan asked in suspicion.

"I have to," Bonnie said, swallowing hard. "But I will keep my word and talk to you about it later. Tell Elena I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Shouldn't we go with her?" Alaric asked suddenly.

"No. She'd flip. I'm safe. Promise," Bonnie said, still in shock over Caroline.

"Whatever Katherine is holding over you, know that it's nothing we can't handle, Bonnie. Don't feel obligated to save the town or play hero by yourself," Stefan said seriously. "Katherine wants to tear everyone apart. Don't help her…You're better than that."

Bonnie nodded and headed out the door, letting the tears she was holding back fall as she thought about the mistakes she had made.

* * *

Damon paused in his typing and reading on the computer when he heard Elena cry out in surprise downstairs. Moments later he heard footsteps on the staircase heading toward the bathroom.

Scrunching his brows together in curiosity, Damon got up to investigate. He made his way to the bathroom and saw Elena taking a wet towel to her neck and pressing at it, small pink streaks making her way down her shirt.

"Didn't you just shower too?" Damon asked as he walked in the room. "You're so messy."

"Can you go check on Stefan and see if he needs help with Caroline," Elena muttered as she held pressure on her neck.

"So blondie decided to go for it. Go figure," Damon said shaking his head. "Is there a reason you let her go for your blood or were you just more convenient."

"Damon. Just go help him, ok," Elena said angrily, holding back tears as she thought about what went wrong. "I don't want to explain things right now." At that, she turned back to the mirror still holding down her towel.

"Let me see that first to make sure Caroline didn't get crazy," Damon said reaching for the towel.

Elena swatted him away, but Damon persisted. Elena sighed and let go of the towel so he could look at it. As soon as he took the towel away to look at it, a small spurt of blood hit him in the cheek.

Elena gasped and firmly clamped the towel back down, nervous about how Damon would react. But thanfully, he just wiped it off and raised his eyes at her. "Hate when that happens," he said looking at Elena seriously. "You need to stop with the free samples, Elena."

She let out a small chuckle and held the towel firmer. "I keep telling Bonnie I have a sign on my back that says eat me or something…It must say all you can eat buffet by now."

Damon sarcastically turned her around to check her back and nodded his head. "You've got neon lights now and that can't be good." Then getting more serious he looked at her in concern. "Caroline must have nicked your artery since she didn't know what she was doing. It's not the major on or anything, but that's why it popped out to say hello…Just keep it wrapped and you'll be good."

"Thanks,"Eelena said with a small smile. "Now can you go help…"

"I'm sure Stefan is more than capable of dealing with her right now. Hear that? Now angry growly noises. So what really did happen?" he asked curiously.

"Bonnie found a spell that would reverse the transition process but it backfired and Caroline changed somehow, so she attacked right after she woke up," Elena said, closing her eyes. "I don't know what went wrong, but all I know is that Caroline is a vampire now whether she wanted to be or not."

"What went wrong is that you all think Bonnie is some great witch because she has power. She's not trained, Elena. The sooner everyone understands that, the less you will be disappointed," he said sternly. "Where did Bonnie come up with a spell like that anyway? It sounds fishy."

Elena sighed and sat down on the toilet seat lid. "She got the book from Katherine, but she knew it wasn't tampered with or anything. She's supposed to explain everything when she gets back."

"What do you mean gets back?" Damon asked in confusion.

"She has to return it to her within the hour I guess. She's going to tell us everything after and I trust her," Elena said defensively.

"But I don't," Damon said leaving the room.

"Where are you going?" she said, shooting up out of her seat.

"I've got a witch to trace apparently. If Katherine's looking for some magical assistance, we have a problem," he said quickly as he rushed down the stairs and out the door.

"Damon!" Elena yelled, but it was too late. Frustrated, she rushed to the door and ran outside to stop him. She didn't know if Bonnie would get in any trouble if Damon was around. Hell, she didn't know the situation at all, but if she knew one thing it was that Katherine didn't like surprises.

She looked around and noticed that Bonnie's car was gone and Damon was nowhere to be seen.

"Figures," she muttered as squinted in the distance to see if she spotted anyone.

"Elena…funny meeting you here…and with your neck all bloody again. Do you make that a habit?" Klaus said approaching her from the woods.

* * *

Katherine paced the yard impatiently, waiting for Bonnie. There were 2 minutes left until her time was up, and Katherine wasn't planning on being too lenient if she waited even a minute more. But not even 30 seconds had passed until a car came driving up.

Looking flustered, Bonnie shut the car off and got out holding the book in her arms. She was glaring at Katherine the whole time.

"I half expected you to not show up," Katherine said, cocking her head to the side.

"I told you I would be back. Unlike you, I keep my promises," Bonnie said angrily.

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Katherine asked curiously, ignoring Bonnie's comment.

"It wasn't what I was expecting….the spells in here are really specific," Bonnie said slowly. "I think you should let me hold onto the book and look over the spell for tomorrow so that I don't mess it up. Two hours wasn't long enough to look."

"Are you saying you're incompetent or that you think the spell book itself is faulty," Katherine asked curiously.

"I'm saying that you can't expect me to rush into magic. If I do, everything could fall apart," Bonnie said testily. "I want to hold onto it."

"What happened with Caroline?" Katherine suddenly asked. "Don't act so surprised. I assumed you would look for something in there to help her. Did it help?"

"No," Bonnie answered honestly. "And Caroline, thanks to you, is a vampire."

"Ahh, but you see I gave her a choice. She would have died regardless. It's not my fault she transitioned…I love how you're trying to push your guilt of failed attempts on me. It's amusing,if not pathetic" Katherine said with a chuckle. "I know what's in that book, Bonnie Bennett, just as I know you would have attempted to reverse her transition."

"How did you know?" Bonnie whispered.

"Because you're predictable. You wanted the book after finding Caroline, and you got it. You had it for 2 hours which is more than enough time to find that spell. I'm just curious as to why it failed," Katherine said curiously.

"I don't know. Maybe the spell was wrong. Maybe they aren't real at all," Bonnie said stonily. "Maybe my ancestor knew it would go into the wrong hands and never recorded it right."

"Or maybe you're a liar," Katherine said with a smirk. "You lie to yourselfwhen the fault lies on your shoulder for failure…Long story short, Bonnie, I keep the book. You see it tomorrow."

"Why is it so important that you have it?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Insurance," Katherine said impatiently, putting her hand out. "After you complete the spell tomorrow night you can keep the thing as I promised. Unless you don't want to do the spell. But oh wait, you know what happens if you break your oath?"

"I would love to hear what happens if she breaks her oath?" Damon said coming from nowhere.

**I have some vampire diaries to catch up on hardcore. I've seen only the first and second episode, so I'm dying to know what happened while I was gone. Ahhh! Anyways, thanks again for sticking with. Enjoy and review. Title is by Dashboard Confessional. Cheers.**


	2. Uncharted

"What are you doing here?" Elena asked as she tensed at Klaus's presence.

Klaus looked her over for a moment before deciding to respond. "I was just curious as to what everyone was up to. Small town, small talk you know."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him in response.

"The similarities between you and her are eerie…" Klaus said with a smile. "Truthfully, I came to see if you were here since it's rare you are away from the dear Salvatore brothers."

"Why did you need to see me?" she asked, sneaking a quick glance to the house to see if anyone inside noticed them outside.

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt you if you're worried. I wanted to ask if you were aware of the little understanding I made with your boyfriend and your boyfriend wannabe," he asked with a smile. "You know, the whole if anyone kills Katherine, I kill or do whatever I want with you."

"What?" Elena asked thrown off guard.

"Ahh, still in the dark then. Yes, you see I don't like the fact that everyone seems to be teaming up to kill Katherine. I can't have that. So it's either leave her alone or I take you and the town out," he said simply.

"Why can't you just take her and go and avoid any confrontation," Elena said angrily. "I don't know why she's here, but I want her gone. People are dying or worse around her and it has to stop and I guess…" Elena said swallowing, "if it means that I have to die too then so be it."

Klaus's eyebrows shot up in surprise at her response. "Very brave of you…heroic really. Tell you what, you come with me and I'll get Katherine out of town and make sure no one you care about is harmed, including your dear Salvatores. I give you my word"

"Because your word means something," Elena said stonily. "I can trust you just about as much as I can trust Katherine…you were her maker after all. She had to learn her bad personality traits from someone."

"Who said she picked them up from me?" he said coyly. "Besides, I've yet to do anything wrong, right? I helped save your life instead of letting you bleed to death in the woods. So trust me when I say I'm trustworthy."

Elena stared him down a moment trying to figure him out. From what she knew of him from Katherine, he was persuasive yet ruthless when he wanted to be. Going with him wasn't an option, not when they were so close to figuring out how to fix the problem.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. But if Katherine doesn't back down, there will be consequences," she said strongly. "This has to end."

Klaus got real close to her face then to stare at her closely. "I think you should change your mind about coming with me. It's really a good choice. No one is harmed and who knows, maybe I won't kill you and I'll let you go after some time."

Elena stared at him as his pupils turned dark. She nodded her head and was about to respond when the front door opened behind her and she heard Stefan call her name.

"Think about it," Klaus whispered as he shot away into the distance.

"Elena, are you ok. Look at me," Stefan said urgently as he looked her in the eyes, which looked distant.

"Whatever he just told you, it's a lie," he said harshly, shaking her a bit.

Elena shook her head and focused on Stefan. "So he was lying when he said that if you kill Katherine, he'd retaliate by killing me and the town."

"No. That part was the truth…but whatever he was compelling you to do…Let's get inside and get you some vervain and we can talk. I don't know why I didn't give you any sooner," Stefan said worriedly.

"Alright," Elena said still thinking about things. "But I think that I should just go with him so that he takes Katherine and leaves everyone alone."

"So that's what he was telling you," Stefan said, dragging her into the house. "Elena, believe me when I say we will figure this out without anyone else getting hurt or killed, ok?"

Nodding her head absentmindedly, Elena followed Stefan into the boardinghouse.

* * *

"So what's with all the mystery and witchiness?" Damon asked as Bonnie looked at him in confusion.

"Should I be surprised you're here?" Katherine asked as she looked Damon over. "You have an annoying habit of showing up when you're not wanted."

"Oh I don't know about that. The last time I showed up we had a bit of a fun time, didn't we?" he said with grim smile. "But moving on, what are you doing with my witch friend here?"

"I wasn't aware she was a friend of yours," Katherine responded. "As such, it's my business and I'll be leaving once she hands over the book."

"Don't do it, Bonnie," Damon said stepping between her and Katherine. "Now explain to me what's going on. What did you promise and what's so special about tomorrow night?"

"You're really starting to remind me of someone I rather hate right now," Katherine hissed. "All you need to know is that me and Bonnie have an agreement—an understanding if you will— that doesn't concern you. It doesn't involve death or murder or anything sinister."

"Oh I highly doubt that when it comes to you, Katherine," Damon said lightly. Then without warning he snatched the book out of Bonnie's hand and leapt out of reach of both of them.

"Damon," Bonnie yelled out in surprise.

"Go ahead, take it. Just don't be surprised if she drops dead when she doesn't follow through on her promise," Katherine said, placing a hand on her hip.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Damon said with a smirk. "So you don't do what the bitch wants and you push some daisies? And here I was thinking you were smart."

"You don't know what you're talking about or what's involved, Damon. All you need to know is that I have it under control," Bonnie said angrily. Then using her power, she summoned the book out of his hands and back into her own before he could do anything.

"I see your parlor tricks work," Damon said with a frown. "Katherine, are you sure you want the Girl Scout version of a witch here pulling out the big spells?"

"I don't have much to lose if she doesn't succeed. IF she fails, she's out of the way and if she succeeds, then I get my way and leave. It's a total win-win, Damon. Just go with it, "Katherine said testily. "Besides, who better than a Bennett descendant to help me out."

"I say you just take the book and leave town and find someone who won't murder us all by a spell misfire," Damon said snarkily.

"I trust that when her life and the lives of other are on the line, she won't fail," she said with a grin at Bonnie as she yanked the book out of her hands. "I'll be on my way now. Rest up for tomorrow, Bonnie; you're going to need it."

"I want the book," Bonnie began again, but Katherine ignored her plea as she walked away from them, but not before getting some last words in.

"Don't think you'll get away with your attitude and your inability to keep our little deal to ourselves," Katherine said threatingly. "If it's one thing you learn from me, it's that I get what I want with no questions or demands made." And with that she disappeared.

"Just let her go. Maybe she'll trip on a branch and stake herself on the way out. Then you'll be out of the woods," Damon said, narrowing his eyes at Bonnie.

"What are you even doing here, Damon," she said turning to him annoyed. "I was close to getting the book until you showed up."

"Why are you even consorting with Katherine, Bonnie? That's the biggest question. Why should any of us trust you? What are you up to?" he said, tilting his head at her.

"If you would have just stayed at the boarding house, I would be explaining this all to you," Bonnie said in frustration as she walked back to her car.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that I'm supposed to know what the dear Bonnie is up to 24-7. I wasn't part of your little failed spell circle. All I know from Elena, who was gnawed on my Caroline by the way, is that you were off to meet Katherine to give her a spell book," Damon said, holding Bonnie's car door shut. "So humor me a minute because I'm tired of wasting my time seeing what everyone is up to."

"It's Emily, ok Damon. She wants to bring Emily back," Bonnie said finally. "At the full moon tomorrow night, I'm bringing Emily back and it's going to work. And when it does….our problems will go away," she said with a grim smile.

* * *

Jeremy wasn't paying attention to the time as he idly sketched in his notepad, thinking of wolves, but apparently Jenna was counting down the minutes.

"She has 30 seconds till she's through that door in time," Jenna said from her pile of paperwork. "Then I'm going to go angry aunt on her."

"I'm sure she's just really involved in what she's doing," Jeremy said lamely. He knew that Elena said to stall her, but it was a bit easier said than done.

"Her project…I'm so sure," Jenna said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I haven't seen her since the hospital. It's not like her to just not be around. Part of me is worried about her like something's wrong. And the other part of me is angry that she couldn't find the time to stop by. I don't ask for a lot Jeremy, but I'm still your guardian…your family. I deserve more."

"Jenna, you know we care about you," Jeremy said, tossing his pad on the couch and getting up. "I just think that Elena's had a lot to deal with since you've been in the hospital. I mean, she had to step up and watch over things here, not to mention watch over her basket-case brother."

Jeremy was trying to go for the pity routine in hopes of starting up a long conversation with Jenna. Elena would owe him big, he thought miserably as he waited for Jenna's analysis of him.

"You're not a basket case. A pain in the ass sometimes, yes," Jenna said with a smile, "but you're not crazy. You just need to figure things out and find something stable that makes you happy."

"And the fact that you brought up your craziness makes me think you're stalling," Jenna said, exhaling a loud breath. "I'm calling Elena."

"I'm not…."

"Save it, Jeremy," Jenna said with a grin. "You can at least tell her you tried. She's late and I'm not letting it slide."

Throwing her pen down, she grabbed her cellphone and scrolled through her contact list till she found Elena's number. She turned her head away to ignore Jeremy's furtive glances and attempts to dissuade her. After the fourth ring, she heard the phone pick up.

"Elena Ann Gilbert," she said, not waiting for Elena to begin talking. "You were supposed to be home 5 minutes ago," she said angrily. "And I seriously doubt you're working on a project right now."

"Oh," came Elena's concerned voice. "I'm so sorry Jenna I lost track of time. I was really busy. Can I make it up to you? Meet me at the grill and we can have a big I'm sorry dinner?"

"I don't know if you can win me over that easily," Jenna said impatiently. "I want you home."

"Please," she tried. "Just us girls alone. I will tell you everything, including what I was actually up to tonight. I'll even buy."

Jenna sighed and looked down at the papers she was going over. "Alright, but you are so not off the hook...and you're grounded for a week regardless. I know I'm not your mother, Elena, but I'm only looking out for you like she would want."

"I know, I'm really sorry," she said. "Meet you in?" she said, letting the time hang

"10," Jenna said with a sigh. "And you better be there or I will call in the National Guard and drag you home."

"Ouch, ok. Meet you in 10," she said hanging up the phone.

"So what's the plan?" Jeremy asked in confusion.

"I'm meeting up with Elena at the Grill and she's going to tell me what she was up to. And then I'm dragging her home and she's not leaving for a while," Jenna said with determination.

"She's actually meeting up with you at the Grill?" Jeremy asked in surprise.

"Is there a reason she can't?" Jenna asked, putting her hands on her hips. "If you know something I don't, you better tell me because I'll be really angry if she's standing me up or…"

"No, no. Go. I just didn't…never mind. You want me to come with?" he asked.

"Nah, it'll be just us girls," Jenna said, grabbing her coat. "See you later."

"Alright. Have fun," Jeremy said with a smile that quickly dropped as she left the house.

**Sorry I took so long to update. I had another fanfic to work on and I promised to update soon so I made it a priority before updating this story. And I have to get into the groove of daily updates again. Hopefully that will happen soon. Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is by Sara Bareilles from her new album, which is amazing. Cheers.**


	3. Known for Years

**A/N: Random side note, but for those of you who don't remember, Elena's necklace has been gone ever since Jeremy took it away and gave it to Katherine that night he knocked Elena out at her house. I know it's been ages since it happened, lol, so I just wanted to throw that out there.

* * *

**"Why does Katherine want Emily back?" Damon asked as he lounged in the passenger seat.

She had already insisted that she was going to go over everything when they got back, but Damon wouldn't have any of it.

"I'm not really sure," Bonnie answered truthfully.

"How did that question even fail to cross your mind? She wants to bring back the equivalent of the black belt in witch craft and you don't bother to find out why?" Damon asked, sounding pissed off. "Or do you have a motive of your own?"

"I did ask her, Damon. I'm not stupid, although you'd like to believe so," Bonnie said testily. "And what she told me was that it was for nothing harmful and that she wanted Emily to live the life she should have had her life not been taken away."

"And you believe that b.s. from Katherine of all people?"

"No," Bonnie answered shortly.

"Then pray do tell me why the hell you're going in on this miss 'I'm not stupid'" Damon asked curiously.

Bonnie hesitated for a moment before answering. Part of her reasoning had to do with her desire to bring Grams back. The other was in part her desire to ensure the safety of her friends. She decided to go with her more important reasoning, however, when explaining this to everyone.

"Emily told me to," Bonnie said, looking solemnly at Damon. "I had a vision with her in it and she told me to bring her back."

Damon laughed and shook his head. "This coming from the same ghost who possessed you and destroyed my amulet."

"Which you didn't need anyway since Katherine wasn't in the tomb," Bonnie shot out as she pulled up to the drive of the boarding house. "And she didn't hurt me. She was just stopping you from doing something stupid; she knew Katherine wasn't down there and didn't want the other tomb vamps out."

"She's harmless and can only be our ally in whatever situation or reason Katherine has for her," Bonnie said, parking the car and stepping out of the car.

But Damon wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily. He moved so that he was walking backwards in front of her and stared at her intently.

"Oh, but you're neglecting the small fact that if she would have opened her dead pie hole to say that the bitch was out there somewhere instead of in that tomb, a lot of things wouldn't have happened," Damon said with his eyes blazing.

"That means Katherine never would have sent John and Isobel to do her dirty work and prompting her to come to town….No dead Pearl and Anna, hell no tomb vamps to die or do damage in this town…and more importantly," Damon said, halting Bonnie in her tracks with his outstretched hand. "No dead grandmother from performing a spell that was never needed in the first place all because Emily failed to mention that one tiny fact. And you're wanting to trust her to be on your side here, Bonnie?"

He was about to sat more when he grasped his head in pain and dropped to his knees.

"You don't get to talk about her or the sacrifice she made that night," Bonnie said angrily, holding back tears. "You and Stefan could have been left in there to rot had she not kept going when I…when I wasn't strong enough to continue. I trust my family."

Composing herself, she walked past Damon and into the house, releasing her hold on him until she was inside.

* * *

"You're being unreasonable, Stefan," Elena complained as she drank what Stefan gave to her. "If it's my life for the lives of many, I say I should just do what he wants."

"Elena. You're not even hearing yourself right now," Stefan said, going along with what she was saying until the vervain kicked in. "You're talking about trusting another vampire to do what with you exactly."

"I don't know," she said thinking hard, "but I think it's something that shouldn't be taken lightly."

"Just drink that and we'll talk more about it later," he replied, rubbing his head and rifling through the cabinets of the living room.

He knew he had an old bracelet around somewhere that would be perfect to put vervain in. He had to fight back the urge to kick himself for not giving Elena more vervain sooner. If he couldn't protect her well enough physically, the least he could do was to protect her mentally. The only positive he saw to his statement was that with human blood running within, he could at least be more of a force now.

"It's my decision," Elena said stubbornly from her perch on the couch. "If I decide to go with Klaus, you can't stop me without condemning everyone in this town to an unknown fate."

"Why would you go with Klaus?" Bonnie asked as she strode into the room looking a little upset. Following close behind her was a very pissed off looking Damon.

"Just disregard what she's saying," Stefan said waving a hand. "She's under compulsion."

"What!" Bonnie said in concern as she headed over to Elena to look her over.

"She not want to get freaky with you and you had to pull out all the stops," Damon said, wagging his brows as he went over to the bar.

"That's not funny, Damon," Bonnie said as she sat down next to Elena.

"I'm a riot and you know it…now what did Santa want anyway?" Damon asked looking over at Stefan.

"He offered to take Katherine out of town and keep her out if I went with him. If it keeps everyone safe I say I just do it," Elena replied standing up.

"Oh, that idea," Damon said, taking a sip of his drink. "He told me the same thing and I told him to piss off. I mean, it's no use arguing with a compulsed girl, is that a word? But, he's a psychopath that you have no reason to go near."

"Because you're not a psychopath," Bonnie said with a stony look.

"Found it," Stefan replied with relief as he took a bracelet out a box. "I'll be right back. Watch her." And with that he disappeared.

"Well let's get your little mind off things, shall we. Like, what happened to Caroline?" Damon asked, pushing Elena gently down on the couch while giving Bonnie the evil eye.

"Oh my god, Caroline. I almost forgot," Elena said, shaking her head in frustration. "I don't even know what happened to her after she woke up."

"Stefan and Alaric brought her to the basement," Bonnie replied, happy to be off the Klaus subject. "I can only assume she's still down there. Should we go and check on her?"

"I'll check on the little biter. You girls sit tight," Damon replied. "But I'm sure out dear history teacher is probably keeping watch or he left. Whatever."

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Elena asked as Damon left.

"I honestly don't know how she'll cope. I feel terrible that she's forced to live this life now because I was so careless with the spell," Bonnie said sadly.

"Wait, you know what went wrong?" Elena asked, scooting closer to Bonnie.

"You're mo….Isobel actually figured it out," Bonnie said slowly.

"Figured out what?" Elena said in concern.

"I needed to inject Caroline with human blood and when I decided to use yours, I didn't take into account the vampire blood in your system," Bonnie explained. "So the spell couldn't fully work because of that mix. I was so stupid. I should have thought about it and now I've damned Caroline."

"It's not your fault, Bonnie. You couldn't have foreseen that happening. I should have thought…"Elena started, but she shook her head. "None of us thought of that ahead of time. If you start kicking yourself for it, I will too because I'm just as responsible."

"You weren't the one doing the spell and reading the book," Bonnie said guiltily.

"No but I was the one whose blood you used…another reason for Caroline to hate me," Elena said sighing in frustration. "I only made it worse."

"You both need to stop blaming each other," Stefan said coming back into the room. "We all jumped aboard with something that we didn't even know would work in the first place. The only person to blame her is Katherine."

"Give me your wrist," Stefan said kneeling next to Elena.

"Ok," she said, scrunching her eyes together in confusion.

Stefan gently took her wrist and placed around it a silver bracelet that had what looked like a miniature globe in the center of it. With a small snap it clasped shut and he gave the back of her hand a kiss as he sat down on the couch.

"What is this?" Elena asked curiously as she looked at it closely and noticed little black lines etched into the bracelet to make an intricate design.

"It was an old bracelet of mine back in the day. I'm sorry it's a rather masculine bracelet and all, but it's the best I could do on short notice," he said with a grin.

"It's beautiful and I love it," Elena said with a genuine smile as she gave him a hug.

"Touching," Damon said as he arrived in the room a moment later. "Caroline's still passed out and Alaric is keeping watch and reading a book on something."

"I gave him one of the old books we had on old folk lore like wolves and full moons and witchcraft back in the 17th century," Stefan replied, releasing from Elena's embrace.

"Well if I would have known we had a book like that I wouldn't have wasted my time trying to Google the damn thing," Damon said impatiently.

"You should have asked," Stefan retorted.

"If Alaric's downstairs, where's John?" Elena asked suddenly.

"I haven't seen him since before we did the spell," Stefan said thinking slowly.

"Where did he go?" Elena said in concern.

"Probably crawled under the rock he came from…but enough about him, let's get on with Bonnie's little story. I'm dying to hear it from the beginning and without your mind games if you don't mind," Damon said stonily.

"Just remember that I'm on your side when I tell you this all, ok?" Bonnie said as she took a deep breath and started in on her story.

* * *

"I was half expecting you not to even be here," Jenna said as she spotted Elena standing outside the grill.

"I told you I would meet you here. I am sorry," Katherine said with what she hoped sounded like sincerity. "It's really good to see you out and about and not in the hospital."

"Well you would have seen me sooner if you would have been home," Jenna said, crossing her arms over her chest. "But instead I have a Jeremy who's trying to cover for you and who just know was all suspicious that you'd even show up."

"He didn't think I'd come?" Katherine asked.

"He seemed surprised that you wanted to meet up with me here so obviously you had something going on. But let's sit down and talk about it," Jenna said, shrugging her shoulders and heading toward the door.

Katherine looked around the place and did a quick onceover before following her inside. Once seated she looked Jenna over to see if she had any vervain on her, but noticed no noticeable jewelry.

"So what's going on, Elena? Where have you been?" Jenna asked as she laid her menu down and looked at her in concern.

"A lot's happened since you've been out," Katherine started. "Did you hear about Caroline?"

"No…did something happen?" Jenna started. "I knew she was in the hospital before everything with us happened but I haven't heard anything since."

"She died in a fire a few nights ago," Katherine said, trying to look upset.

Jenna blanched at the comment and threw a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god…I had no idea. How did it happen?"

"I don't really know. Bad wiring is what they are saying. All I know is that she's gone," Katherine said sadly.

"I'm so sorry Elena," Jenna said, placing a hand across the table and grabbing hers. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Katherine responded, tapping Jenna's hand lightly. "Bonnie and I were just going over Caroline's things. That's why I wasn't home."

"The project you were talking about..." Jenna said with slow understanding. "Why didn't you just tell me, Elena? I would have understood. Is there something else going on?"

"No…Hey listen, have you talked to Alaric lately?" Katherine asked, changing the subject.

"No. Not since he left the house to go work on some papers," Jenna said in confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"Has he brought up Isobel at all lately?" Katherine asked.

"Where did that come from?" Jenna said shaking her head in confusion.

"I was just curious about her, that's all. She's my birthmother after all," Katherine replied.

"Um, no. He hasn't brought her up. There hasn't been a reason to. Has she been to see you?" Jenna asked in concern.

"Ugh…too many questions," Katherine said getting serious. "I'll ask them from now on… Has he made any mention at all about Isobel?" she commanded with her eyes. "Has he said anything out of the ordinary?"

"No. He doesn't talk about her at all and hasn't been up to much of anything since he was discharged with me from the hospital," Jenna replied blandly.

"How about John? Any news about him?" Katherine asked, honestly curious.

"He's dead," Jenna said in the same flat tone, now tinged with a bit of confusion. "We had a memorial service for him weeks ago."

"You're really out of the loop," Katherine sighed under her breath in exasperation. Then with eyes bright she thought of something else.

"What can you tell me about Elena?" she said thoughtfully. "What does she like and dislike…more importantly, do you know what she's most afraid of?"

Thinking hard, Jenna nodded her head slowly. "She has one big fear that she doesn't like talking about…"

Katherine smiled and took a sip of the water that was at the table.

"I'd love to hear all about it," she said mischievously. "And then we're going to go for a little walk."

**One day soon I will be back to the daily update again, but for now, every other day isn't the worst thing in the world, right? I have a lot of ideas and I wish I could just blurt it out and tell you what's going to happen. But as such, I have to lay it out for you and work toward that lovely point, haha. Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is by Rachael Yamagata. Cheers.**


	4. Ashes and Wine

Jeremy growled in frustration as Elena's phone went straight to voicemail. He had a terrible feeling about Jenna going to the Grill, but he couldn't really explain that to Jenna. Elena said she was in the middle of something big and he didn't think she would just all of a sudden stop and take Jenna out to eat. Something was up.

Making up his mind, Jeremy threw his phone in his pocket and decided to go to the Grill to check things out himself. But if it was Katherine there with Jenna, what could he do to stop them? He didn't have any cool weapons like Alaric. The most he had were those few sprigs of vervain he had in his room and he couldn't just shove them in her mouth again.

Thinking it was better than nothing, Jeremy ran upstairs and shoved them in his pocket and raced down the stairs. He tried Elena one more time before he left and ended up leaving her a text about Katherine being at the Grill with Jenna. If he was wrong, then she'd ignore it.

10 minutes later Jeremy parked outside the Grill and went around so that he could go in through the back door. Coming inside he looked around to see if spotted Jenna and Elena. Sure enough he saw them sitting in a booth near the windows, but Elena's back was to him so he could see her. He saw Jenna, though, and didn't like the look on her face; it looked distant and concerned.

On his left coming from the kitchen he noticed a waiter coming out with a basket of Greek fries. Seeing them gave him an idea.

"Hey," he said calling him over quickly.

The guy looked at him weird but came over to him. "Can I help you?"

"I'll give you twenty bucks if you let me have those fries right now," Jeremy said seriously, fishing a bill out of his pocket.

The guy looked around, shrugged his shoulders, and grabbed the twenty. "You must be one hungry guy. That or you got the munchies," he said with a laugh as he headed back toward the kitchen.

Jeremy gave a small chuckle and placed the fries on a table. Then looking around before doing anything, he reached in his pocket and grabbed a sprig of the vervain out. Crushing it in his fist until it was broken up into specks, he tossed it over the fries, careful to mix it around. Since the main component of the fries was oregano, he knew that it would blend it really well.

Proud of himself, Jeremy took the basket over to the table and approached Jenna and Elena.

"Hey guys," he said, taking a look at both of them, trying to decide if she was Katherine or Elena. "Sorry to interrupt. Just wanted to say hey to Elena since I haven't seen her in a while."

"Hey Jer," Katherine replied easily. "We were just having some girl chat."

"I thought I told you it was going to be just us girls," Jenna said with a small smile.

"Sorry," Jeremy said, placing the fries down in front of them and scooting Katherine inside the booth so he could sit. "I was grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading out and wanted to stop by. You talking about your periods or something?" he said jokingly as he grabbed some fries and ate them.

"No," Jenna said, rolling her eyes and grabbing a few herself.

"Where are you going?" Katherine asked curiously, reaching mindlessly for the fries.

"I'm going to go meet up with some friends," Jeremy said, waiting to see if she would react to the fries. "What have you been up to?"

She was about to respond when her eyes started watering and she let out a small hiss of disgust. Grabbing a napkin she spit out the French fry.

"You ok, Elena?" Jenna asked in concern.

She wiped her mouth and then shot Jeremy an angry glare. "Fine. It was just too hot."

"Huh. You're too sensitive," Jenna said, reaching for more and eating them.

"Why don't you leave me and Jenna to finish talking," Katherine said to him harshly.

"Actually, I'd rather stay and chat with you," Jeremy said, taking a fry and eating it with a smile on his face. "For starters, I think you should let Jenna know who you are."

* * *

"So basically you're telling us that if you don't follow through on doing this spell tomorrow, you'll die?" Elena asked after everything was said and done. "How could you agree with something like that, Bonnie?"

"Umm, because it means that she can't kill anyone I care about without offing herself as well," Bonnie explained sounding exasperated. "I go through with this and we're safe."

"She's totally fine if the townsfolk bite it, just not us important people," Damon said with a smirk. "You think Katherine will just leave town all nice and happy once the spells over. Highly doubt that."

"What else do you think she would want, Damon?" Stefan asked. "We already know we aren't her priority...if anything she hoped that would serve as a distraction. Make us think that's all she wanted while she worked in the background."

"Wouldn't it stand to reason, then, that she's still up to something if we're now informed of what she's up to?" Stefan concluded.

"I don't think she wanted you to know," Bonnie said honestly.

"Yeah, but if she absolutely wanted to make sure no one knew what she was up to, wouldn't she have made you promise not to talk about it too?" Elena chimed in.

"See, you should have had Elena by your side like a lawyer or something," Damon said with a nod in Elena's direction. "You would have had a nice little unbreakable contract."

"I think she just didn't want too many stipulations in on the oath," Bonnie shot back.

"And I think you're just trying to make stuff up to justify the fact that you made a huge mistake," Damon said carefully. "And no amount of mind fucking me will deny the simple fact that you're doing this for your own gain as well."

"What are you trying to say, Damon? That Bonnie wants Emily back for herself?" Elena said shaking her head in disbelief. "Or that Bonnie is trying to work against us? Because I'd really like to know why you're attacking her so much."

"He's right," Stefan responded, pacing the floor.

"That's a first," Damon said, raising his brows in surprise. "What besides my charming looks made me so agreeable this time?"

"I just think that Bonnie does have something to gain from this little tradeoff. Not only do you get the book as you say, but you get a chance to possibly learn from Emily," Stefan said thoughtfully. "But the only question here is does that reason make you untrustworthy…"

"Stefan," Elena said reproachfully. "She's saves your lives before. What makes you think she would do anything to hurt any of you or do anything that can be considered siding with Katherine?"

"Umm, the fact that she hates vampires and probably would take a note from Emily's book and seal all the baddies up in a tomb," Damon said, downing his drink forcefully before crossing his arms over his chest. "And in case you forget, I'm a baddie in her book."

"You're not doing anything to get on my good side, either," Bonnie replied harshly. "And I don't care if you trust me or not. I told you the truth about what's going on tomorrow. It's going to happen and if you try to stop me, I'll take you down."

"Bonnie," Elena said in surprise.

"Even you if I have to," Bonnie said seriously. "This spell has to happen and I can't have anything distracting me or messing up the spell. I'm not willing to die because they feel like there's some big evil about to go down."

"Bonnie, it's not that we don't trust you, it's that we don't trust Katherine's intentions," Stefan said in exasperation. "Not to mention it's a spell you've never heard of and never done. Who's to say this spell actually works like it's supposed to."

"The dead should remain dead," Damon said in agreement. "Well, except in our case, but it's not our fault we had some magical blood to make us the living undead…but we're getting off track."

"I don't want you getting hurt," Elena said, putting a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "I won't stand in your way, but I will be there to make sure nothing happens to you. Let me help."

Bonnie smiled at her in gratitude and hugged her fiercely. "Thanks Elena," she whispered emotionally.

"I guess we're all going to the party," Damon said throwing his hands up in the air. "I know dear Stefan here wouldn't let you go alone and that means I have to watch out for him as well. What time is the shindig, and should I bring a cake?"

"It's when the moon rises," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. "But I don't think you should be there: any of you. I appreciate your offer, Elena, but Katherine…."

"This may be a good distraction," Stefan said interrupting Bonnie. "It may be one of our chances to strike her while she's occupied with the spell. Maybe you won't even have to finish the spell."

"Maybe," Bonnie said doubtfully. "But she's going to expect you and who knows what she might do."

But before they discussed any further, Alaric came into the room looking around seriously. "Caroline's waking up a bit more. I figured she'd want someone there when she woke up."

"Stay there meal on wheels," Damon said as he noticed Elena getting up.

"I want to see her," Bonnie said defiantly. "I need to."

"Me too," Elena said, chiming in. "She's behind the bars so she can't get me anyway," she said with a pointed look at Damon.

"Let's go," Stefan said, grabbing Elena's hand and giving it a small squeeze. "But if she tries anything, I'll have to stop her."

"She won't," Bonnie said confidently. "Hopefully," she muttered under her breath as the descended the stairs to the basement.

* * *

John waited until the sun had dipped below the treeline to leave the boarding house. He had heard enough of the conversations going on to get the gist of what was going on. As such, he wasn't too bothered to join in on any of it.

Something Caroline had brought up earlier had him thinking and he knew exactly where he had to go right now. So making his way through the woods, he headed to town at a fast pace. He made a mental note to find out what happened to his car so that next time he didn't have to go on foot. While he was much faster now, it was something he would prefer so that he could feel more human.

That idea made him shake his head in frustration and move faster. He was still having a lot of trouble accepting what he was now. There was no way to be grateful to Isobel for what happened to him. She may have chosen to go this route, but it was never his choice. The fact that she did this to him was the biggest betrayal he could think of. It was a Katherine move at best; not an Isobel one.

He pushed aside his anger and sharpened his senses as he approached town. He cautiously walked the streets, careful not to draw attention to himself. Finally he spotted the building he was looking for and walked over to it, forcing the locked door open. It wasn't too difficult considering the fire damage that was done to it.

He shook his head as he walked through the doors and made his way to the door that led downstairs. He found it ironic that only a few weeks ago he had toted a bunch of vampires to burn to death in the very basement, and here he was one of them walking around trying not to burst into flames.

He had to leap to the basement since the staircase had been basically burned to the ground, but he jumped lithely to the charred floor. Whatever the fire didn't take care of, Sheriff Forbes men had. He only assumed nothing was done after the fire to the place in general since he was considered dead.

Wasting no time, he brought his eyes to the ground and did a quick sweep of the wreckage. He was looking for something small and silver. He didn't know whether to expect it to be here or not, but it was worth a shot. For all he knew, it was thrown out with everything else or simply taken away. But today, luck was on his side.

As he kicked his shoes through some of the debris, he noticed what he was looking for under what was left of the stairs. Smiling, he bent to pick it up and held it in his hand. The last time he had seen it had been when Anna had it on her hand as she laid dying: her ring.

He had to slide it on his pinky for it to fit considering it was for a smaller hand, but it would work. He wouldn't be stuck hiding indoors when the sun was out anymore; it was something to look forward to. Feeling accomplished, he jumped back up to the top floor and left the building the way he came.

Having the ring made him think of all the possibilities he had, now. "Hell, the town had a memorial service, not a funereal," he thought to himself. "Who's to say I died."

As he was thinking of the choices he now had and his increased chances of going after Katherine, he happened to glance up and see into the windows of the Grill. There in plain sight sitting in the booth was Jenna, Jeremy…and Katherine.

His blood boiled at the sight and he wondered if they knew, more specifically Jeremy, that it was not Elena sitting at that table. But he didn't have time to think of that thought before Jenna took that moment to look out the window and look right into his face.

**Sorry there's not a lot of action this chapter. It's getting there again, lol. Hope you like it and review and all that jazz. Oh, and as a random note, if you guys like the songs from the show, you have to get a Fine Frenzy's "Ashes and Wine." It's amazing and I've listened to it like a million times while I wrote this chapter. So that's why my title is dedicated to her! Ok, enough of that, lol. Cheers. **


	5. Out of Our Hands

"Hold on," Jenna said frantically as she stared into John's face, ignoring Jeremy's last statement and jumping out of the booth.

Jeremy stared at her in surprise before glancing around in confusion matched with Katherine's.

Jenna rushed outside as quickly as she could but once she reached the street, John was gone. She sighed out in exasperation and dragged her hands through her hair. "I'm going crazy," she thought to herself as she walked a bit further to look in the alley. Kicking herself for her stupidity, she turned to head back inside. But she barely moved a foot before someone grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her away toward her car.

She was about to scream when she looked up and saw who it was.

"It was you!" she exclaimed as she looked up into John's face. "Get off me. What are you doing?" She pushed aside the surprise she felt as seeing him alive to switch it for anger and distrust as she was being herded roughly to her car.

"Just get in the car. I'll explain on the way," John said roughly, glancing around to see if he was spotted by anyone.

"Alright, alright. Don't be so pushy," Jenna grumbled as she fished the keys out of her coat and opened her car.

"Drive," John said, making sure to keep low in his seat. He didn't want Katherine to spot him. He could only assume she didn't know he was alive, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Is someone after you?" Jenna said in disbelief as she sped away. She took a glance to see if Jeremy and Elena were still there, and sure enough, they were sitting there looking like they were in a heated debate.

She didn't have time to dwell on that fact before John was speaking.

"You can say that…What were you doing in there?" John asked her curiously.

"Really? You're going to ask me what I was doing in the Grill?" she said angrily. "Really? What are you doing…."she began.

"I have some bad people after me. It was vital they assumed I was dead. I'm just sorry I had to leave the way I did," John said easily.

"You mean by leaving Elena to die in the kitchen or me unconscious in the living room?" Jenna said angrily in response. "Did some hit men find you? What was your deal?"

"I know you have a lot of questions and you have every right to be angry with me, but believe me when I say I'm helping you out right now."

"You're helping me? I was just fine. You're freaking crazy," Jenna said, pulling over to the side of the road.

"What are you doing?"

"I want you to explain what the hell is going on or get out of my car. This is all crazy," Jenna said angrily.

"Keep driving," John commanded, attempting to use compulsion.

"No," she said firmly. "Not until you talk."

John sighed out in frustration and looked at her seriously. "Do you really want the truth?"

"Oh my god, did you kill somebody?" she asked, sensing the seriousness in his voice.

"No. It's a little more complicated than that," he said with a grim smile. "For starters, the night you thought I left you all to die…I didn't because I never left. I died."

"I don't understand," she said in confusion.

"I'm technically dead, Jenna…I'm a vampire. And that person who you thought was Elena in the Grill is one too; the one responsible for my death as a matter of fact," John said, waiting to see how she'd react.

* * *

"What the hell is that about?" Katherine asked as she watched Jenna run to the door.

"Maybe she saw someone she knew," Jeremy threw out as a guess.

"I was referring more to your little 'tell her who you are' stunt," Katherine said, turning her attention back to Jeremy.

"Maybe she should know when she's talking to Elena or some crazy bitch," Jeremy said with a glare.

"Watch your tongue or I'll rip it out, boy," Katherine said, narrowing her eyes. "Your Aunt doesn't seem capable of handling such information. I mean, if you wish I could tell her a sob story about how I'm Elena's long lost twin. I'm sure that'd get me a bed in your guest room."

Jeremy's eyebrows shot together in surprise. He hadn't considered she could make that a possibility. It was a believable story after all. But before he could dwell on it any longer, Katherine's laugh interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh please, like I'd resort to acting like a groveling human and have to live amongst you while she played dumb. It's a little desperate, don't you think," she said sounding bored.

"But if you want your aunt informed of who exactly I am, that can be arranged," she said threatingly and giving a brief flash of her sharpened teeth.

"That won't be necessary," Jeremy said slowly. "But what do you want with her, Katherine?"

"Oh I love to just mess with you all and keep you on your toes. I want you to know that you're never safe," she said, leaning closer to him. "If I want her out, she's taken out. It's as easy as that. As such, consider my little meeting with her a wakeup call. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. I just love how easy it is to get to everyone here. Such a close knit town where everybody knows everybody…"

"What do you want, Katherine? Why are you bothering to do any of this? Why don't you just leave and go back to the hell you came from," Jeremy asked in annoyance.

"You're pretty brave for having nothing on your side. No supernatural powers or weapons….I could kill you right now and make it look like an accident," she said with a mischievous grin. "But as such, I kind of like you for your spunk. And there's no one fun around to kill you in front of so there's no point."

"Do you honestly expect me to answer your question," she said after Jeremy stared at her in anger. "Why not sit back and enjoy the ride. I know you like it too because once you get off the sidelines and start playing the game, it's hard to be benched again."

"And what does that mean?" he asked.

"It means that deep down, you like that I'm here because it makes you feel useful; makes your life a little less predictable," Katherine said playfully. "And let's face it, no one you've cared about personally has died because of me…well, besides your parents and Elena's almost death."

Jeremy's face turned from shock to anger in seconds. Without thinking about it he grasped the knife on the table and was about to attack when she casually, yet forcefully, swatted his hand till the knife fell out.

"Brave…but stupid," she said, shaking her head but looking amused. "How would it look if you attempted to stab your sister in a public restaurant? Explain that one."

"Why?" he managed to whisper. "Why the vendetta against my family?"

"Nothing personal, kid. In all honesty, your parents were just bad timing. Your Uncle John was a major douchebag who had it coming. Elena on the other hand is just bad….breeding," she said with a wicked smile. "And you….you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Jeremy didn't even know how to respond to any of it. He was still reeling from her comment about his parents.

"Well I suppose now that you've interrupted my conversation indefinitely with your Aunt, which I guess is fine since she's pretty dry for information, I'll be on my way. I have another appointment to make," Katherine said, motioning Jeremy to move out of the booth.

Glaring, but knowing there wasn't much he could do to stop her, Jeremy scooted out of the booth and let her pass.

"That was fun, Jer. We should do it again sometimes," Katherine said with a chuckle as she patted Jeremy on the shoulder.

"Go to hell," he murmured as she walked away.

It wasn't until she was gone that he realized that Jenna hadn't come back.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he rushed out the doors.

* * *

Although Elena protested, she let Stefan go ahead of her to check on Caroline first. He peered in through the bars and then with a nod to Damon, opened them up and went into the room with her. She was sitting up and staring around in confusion and suspicion as she saw Stefan approach her.

"Caroline?" Stefan asked tentatively. "How are you feeling?"

She cocked her head to the side and stared at him a moment before answering. "Let's see, I went through some voodoo spell to not become a monster, then I became one anyway; attacked Elena because for some reason she smelled like a freakin steak dinner, and then I was stabbed with some needle thing that made me feel like my blood was on fire and was thrown in here. How the hell do you think I'm feeling, Stefan?"

"I told you she'd be her normal self," Bonnie said from behind him. Though a part of her was worried that the spell would have messed something up with her, she couldn't help but to feel majorly relieved that she was the same old Caroline.

"Well, with fangs at least," Damon chimed in. "Are you going to play nice is what Stefan is really going for here. Unless you want some more jabby jabby action from the dart."

"I'm fine. I feel a little hungry, but I'm fine. I'm sorry I got all angry," Caroline said sheepishly. "I freaked out, ok. Everything hurt and my mouth felt like it was growing and it was all really weird."

"It was a lot to go through," Bonnie said slowly. "I'm just sorry that the spell didn't work."

Caroline slowly got up from the ground and put her hands through her hair to straighten it down. "Is there a reason it didn't work or are you just not good at being a witch?"

"Caroline," Elena reprimanded.

"What, it's a fair question. I put my trust in the fact that Bonnie knew what she was doing and that she would help me," Caroline said testily.

"Would you have chosen to change or would you have died given the circumstances," Stefan said, butting in.

"I don't…" Caroline began.

"Bonnie was giving you a chance at something. When you decided to do that spell, you put your life in her hands. If she didn't even give you a chance, you would be left to decide. Would you have just died, Caroline? Killed yourself?" Stefan asked.

Elena looked at him in surprise, wondering what made him decide to defend Bonnie like this. It wasn't moments ago he was wondering if she was trustworthy.

"I didn't want to die," Caroline admitted.

"So then there's no reason for this drama," Damon said impatiently. "Now we have to decide if you're going to go blood thirsty on the town or attack little bunnies like Stefan. Going to have to tell the kiddies there's no Easter this year though if you decide that."

"I don't want to go around killing people," Caroline said, sounding disturbed.

"Well then it's settled," Stefan said with a glare at Damon.

"So you're just going to go take her out in the woods to hunt?" Bonnie said in surprise.

"Unless you want to offer her something better," Damon said with raised brows.

"What she means is, does she have to be thrown into it like that already? It's just happening so fast," Elena replied.

"We can't just run her through a McDonald's drive thru and pick her up a burger, Elena. She needs to feed. She's new and running on empty. If you prefer her to starve and lunge at you again, that's on your hands," Damon said with a shrug.

"After that I want to go home," Caroline said suddenly. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Damon and Stefan exchanged brief glances before turning back to Caroline. "You can't go home just yet, Caroline. You could just as easily attack your mom like you did Elena," Stefan said with pity. "You'll have to wait a while till you can control yourself more."

"I can't be kept prisoner here," Caroline said shrilly, looking around the walls.

"No one said you were, Caroline. He's just saying you need to get used to yourself so you don't hurt people by accident," Elena explained. "It's temporary. You wouldn't be locked down here anyway," she finished, but she gave a bit of a questioning look at Stefan to see his response.

"You'll stay here upstairs in one of the guest rooms. You'll have to be indoors during the sunlight hours, though. Do you want to hunt now? The suns down," Stefan said.

"Ok, can I just point out that I think it would probably be best to put her on the human diet for now?" Damon said suddenly. "She's an extra set of fangs at the least. She can help us distract Katherine so we can stake the little bitch."

"You can't be serious," Elena said stonily. "You can't involve Caroline in something like that, she could get killed."

"She's already dead," Damon said snarkily.

"You know what I mean," Elena argued.

"Enough of this all, ok," Caroline finally said, pushing through them and heading toward the door. "I'm not in the mood to hear everyone decide and debate what's to be done with me. I just want to get rid of this hungry feeling inside and then I can think more. But for the record, Elena, I'm all for taking her down for doing this to me."

"You're not feeding off humans," Bonnie said seriously.

"She won't," Stefan said, taking the lead so that he was in the hallway first. "We'll hunt animals as I said. No one's getting hurt."

"What would you do if I did, Bonnie?" Caroline asked almost menacingly. "Kill me?"

"If I had to," Bonnie whispered sadly.

Caroline's face dropped at her response, but she recovered and walked up the stairs after Stefan.

"What was that about?" Elena asked Bonnie.

"She can't go around killing innocent people, Elena. If she gets out of hand….well let's just hope she doesn't," Bonnie said shakily. "I need to go home."

Elena sighed and didn't press Bonnie any further. "Yeah, I do to. I'm way late and Jenna's going to give me hell. I told Jeremy to stall for me, so hopefully that worked. I shut my cell so that she didn't yell at me."

"What about Caroline?" Bonnie asked.

"I guess Stefan will have to babysit," Damon said with a smirk. "I'm pulling guard duty so it seems."

"Excuse me," Elena said angrily.

"Oh, did Stefan not tell you that he kind of wants an eye on you all the time to make sure Katherine doesn't pop out and get you. She's like the boogey man," Damon said, wagging his brows. "Let's go."

"You're not coming with," Elena protested, but he was already up the stairs

"I'm going to have a long chat with Stefan later," Elena sighed out in exasperation as she and Bonnie followed him upstairs.

**Sorry for those of you who hate John and Caroline and had to read about them, haha. Hope you liked the chapter regardless. I'm seriously OBSESSED with watching the trailer for the next 2 episodes; it looks soooooo goood! I can't stand it, lol! Annyways, enjoy and review. Title song is by Gemma Hayes and I believe it was in the first episode of this season. Cheers.**


	6. Revelations

Jenna burst out laughing and shook her head. "Oh, that's rich. You're Dracula now? That's a bad cover up if you're supposed to be in hiding. I guess the sunlight must be a bummer," she still said jokingly. "And throwing Elena into it…what's that about?"

"I'm not playing games here, Jenna," John said seriously. "I'm trying to tell you something so that you're not left in the dark. Your sister was ignorant of all of this; I figured you may want to be more informed. It may save your life one day."

Jenna's smile dropped at the mention of her sister and she parked the car slowly into the driveway. "What are you trying to say John?" Jenna said, shutting the car off and turning to stare at him.

Still staring at her and cocking his head to the side, he withdrew his fangs to show her exactly what he meant; the veins protruding from under his eyes. "That I wasn't lying when I told you what I was," he said with piercing eyes.

"Holy shit," Jenna said, opening her car door and bolting for the house.

She was just to the door when John appeared in front of her, causing her to scream out in surprise.

"This isn't real. Things like this don't happen," Jenna said, sounding panicked as she backed away from John.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Jenna. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn't go through all the trouble to talk to you right now," John said calmly. "But you would have thought I was crazy otherwise, so I showed you what I am. I'm sorry to have scared you."

She looked like she wanted to reach out and poke his face to make sure she hadn't imagined it all, but she stayed her hand. "I don't understand…You're telling me you're a vampire. As in blood sucking, cross hating, people killing vampire."

"All except the people killing…at least for now" John said seriously. "We need to talk and in private. I'll explain more to you then. Jenna?"

Jenna looked pale and close to having a minor panic attack. John went to put an arm around her in case she fell, but she smacked him away. "I'm fine," she said, exhaling breath and shoving her keys shakily in the door.

She rushed in, half debating whether to slam it shut on his face and find something sharp, but then what? She didn't know where to go from there. Hell, she didn't know how to make out any of it. The weirdest thing to her, however, was the fact that John was still standing on the porch looking at her awkwardly.

"You have to invite me in," he said, almost ashamed.

"You can't come in unless I say so?" she said in both surprise and amusement. "Sounds like an easy way to keep you out."

"You would know. You've had experience with this minor invitation thing when you let Katherine in the house to murder me," John said cooly. "And if you knew such things back then, maybe we both wouldn't be in this rather awkward position."

"Who the hell is Katherine?" Jenna said, still not letting John in the house.

"Jenna, just let me in and we can talk about all of this," he said, looking around the house before focusing on her.

"No. you said I already let a vampire in my house before, apparently, and I want to know who," Jenna said stubbornly. "And if I let you in, can I like, unlet you in?"

"No. An invitation is permanent," he said tiredly. "And Katherine would be Elena's look alike. You already met her of course. You were having lunch with her not ten minutes ago," John said, narrowing his gaze.

Jenna's face dropped in an instant. She remembered John making reference in the car earlier to her sitting with Elena's double, but she laughed it off as crazy talk. But if he was saying was true…

"Shit…Get in the house then, John. Just…don't hover or be close to me or I'm going to find something really sharp to poke you with," she said in defeat.

"It's bad enough I didn't trust you before…and now you're…Just…I need a drink," she said rushing off to the kitchen.

"I'll join you there…" he said with a sigh of relief as he stepped over the threshold and shut the door. "With the alcohol," he said quickly at the horrified look on her face.

"Just start talking, "Jenna said as she took down the vodka bottle and took a small swig. "I'm freaked out enough already."

"Should I talk about the town and the council and everything before that, or just recent happenings," John said thoughtfully.

"Then…now…Now," she said decidedly. "I want to know why there's an evil Elena out there and how this affects any of us and why I should trust you to tell the truth. Just…."

"Breathe," he said with a small grin. "I'll start off with the basics and go from there, ok?"

When he received a confirmation nod, he started in what she needed to know.

* * *

Elena waved Bonnie and Alaric off as they go into their cars and fished her own keys out of her bag. "You're seriously not coming with me are you?" she said to Damon.

"Oh like you don't love my company, Elena. Besides, the last adventure was admittedly epic, what with the boozing and schmoozing," he said, wagging his eyebrows.

She thought about it for a moment and let a small smile creep on her face. "It was a good night, Damon. But now we're facing reality again and there's no fun and games. You can't be there. I can't explain to Jenna why you're there. Not to mention I don't want you to get…" but she shook her head and got in the car.

"You don't want me to what?" Damon said, climbing in the passenger side. "Get hurt? Why Elena, I'm touched that you care about what happens to me."

"I'm just tired of people getting hurt on my account," Elena said miserably as she drove the car down the driveway and out onto the main road. "I hate it."

"People are getting hurt because Katherine's a spoiled brat used to getting her way all the time, except that when she throws a temper tantrum, she doesn't just stomp her foot and scream; she kills and wreaks havoc," Damon said with a frown. "Don't blame yourself for something you can't control. You'll drive yourself mad. Believe me, I know."

Elena took that moment to glance over at Damon and was surprised at the look on his face. He seemed contemplative and sad at the same time. Both worry and regret were etched on the lines on his face, but just as soon his calm mask was back up

"Just don't try anything stupid if something happens," Elena said finally. "Besides, I think that after me and Jenna's little chat, she's not going to want me out of the house for maybe forever. So I won't be leaving the house, so I'll be safe."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we assumed that last time and Katherine nabbed you from your house," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "I'll stay put till Stefan comes by."

Elena sighed and they continued on in silence for a few minutes till Elena decided to talk.

"Thank you Damon," she said softly. "For that much needed night out and for helping me out and being reliable."

"Not to mention that you think I'm trustworthy again, what with that little kissing test you pulled out on the dance floor," Damon said with a wicked smile. "Now if all tests with women were like that, I would gladly take those and pass with flying colors."

Elena rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but to blush. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. I had a lot to drink and wasn't as clear headed as I usually am. But I am still grateful that you knew better and didn't try anything."

"Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night," Damon said throwing up his hands. "I think that deep down, you enjoyed that kiss…there was something there that had nothing to do with the booze."

"Damon, we've gone over this all already," Elena said in exasperation. "I'll admit, I was at fault for kissing you, but at the time it seemed like a good test of your character. To make sure that you…Never mind."

"No, what?" Damon asked curiously. "Tell me."

"To make sure that you weren't confusing me for Katherine…trying to push me to do something because you wanted her…." Elena said guiltily. "To make sure that you were still in control of yourself and not diving off the deep end because Katherine hurt you."

Damon didn't respond for a while, but simply sat there with his brows furrowed. When he did respond, Elena noticed the noticeable difference in the tone of his voice.

"You think that I would hurt you or use you because of something that happened with Katherine?" he said in a low voice.

"Can you blame me? I look like her, Damon. It's not hard to think that maybe you would just reflect your feelings for her onto me. I'm sorry I even said anything," Elena said with regret.

"I would never confuse you for Katherine, Elena. You're better than her," he said with an intensity that shocked her. "But if you're ever confused again about my intentions or my trustworthiness, just come out and ask me instead of stepping on me in the process."

"Damon," Elena began, but Damon waved it off.

"Whatever. We shared a drunken kiss and you found out what a peachy guy I am and how I don't think you're Katherine," he said dryly. "Move on."

"For what it's worth, it was a good kiss," Elena admitted in a whisper as she parked the car and got out, avoiding Damon's surprised look.

Damon was about to respond when he caught a scent on the wind. He rushed over to Elena and stopped her from moving forward.

"What is it?" she asked in concern.

"John was here, or rather is here," Damon said in confusion.

"He's with Jenna!" she said in surprise. Before Damon responded, though, Elena ran around him and rushed for the house, calling out her name.

She ran into the house to look for Jenna when John came out of the kitchen first, followed by Jenna.

"Who are you?" Jenna asked in suspicion.

"What are you talking about Jenna?" Elena asked in confusion.

"It's a simple question. Are you Katherine or Elena?" Jenna asked, taking Elena by surprise.

* * *

"That was disgusting and disturbing," Caroline said as she wiped the blood from her chin. "I mean it tasted so different than what I had before. Not to mention the deer was all writhing and all bambi-like. I thought we were just going after a bunny."

"The deer was more convenient," Stefan said patiently. "And this blood is supposed to taste different than human blood. For one thing, their diet is different and…."

"Spare me the biology lecture, Stefan," Caroline said with a sigh. "Is it always going to be like this? I still feel hungry."

"You're going to be a little hungrier than usual right now because you're new, so you're going to have to hunt more," he explained. "So we're going to have to find another bambi as you put it."

"I guess I'm just lucky I was never involved with PETA," Caroline said with a sigh.

"Would you prefer to kill human beings instead?" Stefan asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No," Caroline said in frustration. "It's just…this is a lot to take in."

Stefan looked at her in sympathy and nodded his head. "I know, and I'm sorry this happened. But you'll learn and things will get easier."

"I hope so….So what else can I do then besides attacking things and drinking blood?" Caroline asked. "Like, can I read minds or something?"

"No, but you can use compulsion, which is making someone else do what you want. But you try to use that ability sparingly," Stefan explained.

"That sounds like fun," Caroline said, perking up. "So I could like, walk into a store, buy a whole bunch of things, and then tell the cashier that I paid for it and she'd believe me?"

Stefan rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. "If you want to look at it that way, yes. But I wouldn't make that habit. You don't want to draw unnecessary attention to yourself."

"Awesome," Caroline said, ignoring Stefan's comment on lying low. "Anything else?"

"As you said, we attack, feed…We're predators, Caroline. We have things on our side like speed, stealth, and strength, Stefan explained. "Add out ability to heal fast and never die and that's it."

"Can we do that predatorial thing again then? I'm still hungry," Caroline said after a moment.

Stefan have a small smile and nodded his head. "I'll let you take the lead on this one so that I know you got the hang of it."

"Ok," she said, almost excited to take the lead. "I'll follow a scent then…."

Minutes later Caroline was following a trail to the north when she suddenly stopped, catching another scent on the wind from the east. A stronger scent that smelled ten times better than that of the one she was following.

"Stefan, I don't think that's an animal," Caroline said slowly, stopping herself. "It reminds me a little of like what Elena smelled like to me."

"That's because it's human," Stefan said in confusion. "I don't know what anyone is doing out here, though?"

"Well let's find out," Caroline said, raising her eyebrows in excitement.

"Caroline, wait," Stefan exclaimed, but she was already on her way.

When she was close enough to the smell, she slowed and looked around, listening in. She didn't have to wait long before she heard voices. There was more than one person here.

"Maybe we have some campers getting busy," she whispered to Stefan, who had just arrived behind her. "Bow chicka wow wow."

"I don't think that's the case," Stefan said seriously. "Let's head back and get you something else to hunt. Then we can get back to the boarding house and…"

But Stefan's words were lost when out of nowhere, a flashlight shone in their faces.

"Caroline?" a voice asked from the darkness.

**Sorry if the chapter felt slow, but I did give you a Delena moment, even if it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, lol! Anyways, I think this chapter was updated pretty quickly compared to how I've updated recently, so yay for that. Maybe I'll get back on the daily track. But I now have to update my other ff, so maybe the next chapter will be delayed so I don't piss those readers off. Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is from the song by Audioslave. Cheers.**


	7. Crash

**A/N: Random, but I was looking at some TVD news and they said somewhere that they are going to introduce a character in the show named Luka….Sounds similar to my character, Lucas. It made me smile knowing we have the same names in there. I mean, that name wasn't even in the novels... AHH! Anyways, back to the story!

* * *

**"Mom?" Caroline said in surprise as Sheriff Forbes lowered her flashlight.

"Oh my god, Caroline, I've been worried sick and nearly tearing the town apart to find you," she said, sounding both relieved and reproachful at the same time.

Caroline shot a quick glance to Stefan in shock before she faced her mom again. "What are you doing out here in the woods?"

"I should be asking you the same question," the Sheriff said, eyeing her and Caroline. "I was checking every possibility. I went to your friends' houses, places I thought you might go…I even tried Matt's. He was relieved to find out you were alive," she said with a small smile.

"We decided to try here last to see if you were hiding out or…" she trailed off, looking at Stefan.

"You thought maybe she was meeting with the Lockwood's?" Stefan suggested, playing along for the sheriff's sake.

"Yes. I wanted to be thorough," the Sheriff said with a nod to Stefan. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Caroline looked like she was at a bit of a loss, so Stefan started up instead.

"Caroline came here not too long ago and was visibly upset. She was looking for Elena, but she wasn't here. She needed to calm down and clear her head, so I suggested a little walk in the woods," Stefan said easily. "I thought I saw movement over here and I was checking on it to make sure we were safe. That's why we strayed a bit farther than normal."

"He helped calm me down a lot," Caroline chimed in. "I was really angry about what happened mom, but I understand now that it was for my own protection."

Sheriff Forbes looked a little bit suspicious about the story, but shook it off. Instead, she went over to Caroline and gave her a hug. "I'm just glad you're alright."

Caroline stiffened a bit at the contact and from being so close to the beating pulse in her mom's neck. Taking a deep breath, she patted her mom's back and stepped away. "I said I understood, mom, it doesn't mean I forgive you just yet."

"Fair enough….let's get you home," she said briskly. "Jerry, you go on home. Thanks," she said, turning to the officer that was waiting behind her.

Caroline looked at Stefan in concern, but then relaxed. "It'd be nice to go home," she said with a small grin. "It's been a long day and god knows I could use a break."

Stefan furrowed his brow and shook his head at her, but she ignored him.

"You sure you want to go home, Caroline? You're more than welcome to wait for Elena until she gets here. I'll even make sure you have a ride home," Stefan said pointedly.

"I'd prefer her home and resting right now, Stefan. Thanks," Sheriff Forbes said, pointing Caroline to the way of her car. "I appreciate everything you've done. Good night."

"Bye Stefan," Caroline said, waving her fingers at him. "Tell Elena I'll call her later."

"I'll be good," she whispered softly enough so that her mom didn't hear her. "Promise."

Stefan watched them leave with a bit of unease in his stomach. He couldn't do anything else without drawing suspicion from Liz. He could only hope that Caroline had some control for her mom's sake.

* * *

"She's Elena," John said, responding first. "Otherwise Damon wouldn't be here standing as if to protect her and not kill her. Besides, I've noticed that Elena's hair tends to be straight; Katherine's is curly."

"Nice observation, John. Too bad you couldn't tell the difference when Shirley Temple stabbed you with that knife," Damon said dismissively.

"Damon," Elena said reproachfully, walking over to Jenna. "What has John told you, Jenna?"

But Jenna was looking warily at Damon, unsure of how to act around him now that she knew about him. She shook her head and stood her ground.

"He told me enough to make me sound that I need to be committed," Jenna said with an uneasy laugh. "Like that he and Damon and Stefan are vampires and that you have an evil twin vampire running around…it's messed up."

"All happy families are," Damon said, narrowing his eyes.

"Let's sit inside, Jenna. I want to know what John told you," Elena said with a dirty look at him.

"You girls go ahead. I'd like a word with father dearest here," Damon said as he waved Elena and Jenna into the living room.

"Father dearest?" Jenna said in confusion.

"He didn't tell you that part, then," Elena said with a sigh as she dragged Jenna into the living room.

"I didn't think it was important to mention," John commented at Damon. But Damon ignored him as he grabbed him by the throat and shoved him against the wall.

"What are you playing at, Gilbert? It's one thing to have her brother involved in this, blame Stefan for that. But you involving Jenna and freaking Elena out even more, bad move," Damon said angrily.

"It can only help," John said, struggling a bit under Damon's grip. "I figured it was safer for her to know considering she was just having lunch with Katherine."

Damon rolled his eyes and dropped John to his feet. "So you decided to what? Tell her the truth about everything? Did it not cross your mind to just compel her to…"

"To what, Damon?" John interrupted. "Forget about Katherine? Tell her that when she sees Elena to not listen to what she says? There was no easy thing to do. She needs to know. It's as simple as that. Otherwise she's just easy prey for Katherine. Jenna could even spy on Elena; be forced to hurt her or others if Katherine had her do so. Ever think of that?"

"Well, for one, Jenna should have been wearing her vervain thingy that Elena gave her so that nothing like that would happen," Damon replied. "And don't think for one moment that I haven't thought of any and all possibilities here. Don't forget, I've been around for a while and I've played these games myself, John."

"But next time you want to play high and mighty, don't; it makes you look like more the part of a suspicious jack wad than you already are," Damon said with a harsh look at him. "By the way, where have you been this whole time? The Scooby gang was looking for you at the house and you were AWOL."

John wasn't sure whether he should mention getting the ring or not, but he didn't have to explain when they heard Jenna's upraised voice in the living room.

"HE'S YOUR FATHER!"

"Guess Elena told her the happy news," Damon said with a smirk.

"I'll let them have at it. I've done enough talking for one day," John said with a small nod. "And I think I'll stay here tonight…it's more inviting."

"You mean the dungeon wasn't cozy? It had chains and everything; I thought that would be your style... You were in it for barely a day, get over it," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, you're not staying here."

"And why is that?"

"Because I don't trust you to not rip out their throats while they are sleeping," Damon said harshly. "You either stay at the boarding house or find another place…maybe a nice hole in the ground. Either way, it's not here."

"I could be of use here. Protect Elena and Jenna and Jeremy. I'm an extra set of eyes…"

"And fangs," Damon said dismissively. "Why don't you go shack up with Isobel again? I'm sure she'd love the company…Besides, you can't make any little doppelganger babies this time since you're both dead."

"I'd rather kill myself than get back together with Isobel," John growled.

"Well then it's settled, unless you want me to stake you," Damon suggested. "No? Didn't think so…So either get inside and bear the brunt of Elena's fit she's going to throw at you, or leave."

"I should have staked you right after Anna," John said, narrowing his eyes and walking into the living room.

"But then we wouldn't be having so much fun together," Damon said with a forceful jab to John's shoulder as he rushed in ahead of him. "What'd we miss?" he said, noting Elena and Jenna's faces.

"Apparently I need some vervain, because from what Elena's told me….I haven't talked to the real her in quite some time; it's been Katherine," Jenna said miserably.

"But on the positive side, we have Katherine's phone number," Elena said with a grin. "Somehow Katherine got to her phone and programmed her number in for mine so that when Jenna tried me, she'd be directed to Katherine instead."

"Ok, so we know you played phone tag now…Can you tell us anything helpful?" Damon asked.

"I can tell you what I remember, but what she wanted was information," Jenna said slowly.

"What kind of information?" Damon asked.

Jenna sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose. "I'm not 100%, but she seemed pretty interested in if I'd heard from Isobel or John, and if Alaric had heard from Isobel either…She was fishing around for things I didn't know about, though."

"It's the things you did that I'm worried about," Damon said.

* * *

Jeremy looked up and down the street looking for Jenna before noticing that her car was gone. He had already tried her cell several times, but it just rang and went to voicemail. That meant she was either not hearing her phone or she was unable to get it somehow.

He didn't know whether to panic or not. Katherine had been just as confused when Jenna stormed out, but it could have just as easily been a distraction. He was at a loss to even know where to begin if she was indeed taken somewhere. The best he could think of was to go home; maybe she'd had enough or forgot something. Maybe he would find Elena. Either way, he was uneasy.

Heading to his car, he barely noticed that someone was leaning against it until he was a few feet from it.

"Shit, Tyler," he said in surprise. "What have you been up to?"

"Hi to you, too," Tyler said, moving away from the car. "I've been cooped up in my house all day learning about what to expect for tomorrow and how to handle myself better. I needed to get out before I felt less human."

"That must be hard," Jeremy said, feeling some pity for him. "I'm sorry. Is Chloe around too, then?"

"Yeah. She needed to get out too. The house just feels off and she's taking Rio's death pretty bad. She took off on her own from the house though and she's just wandering in the woods," he said, rolling his eyes. "I suggested we get trashed tonight to feel better about tomorrow? You in for some fun tonight?"

Jeremy shot a small smile, but shook his head. "I would, but I'm looking for Jenna. Something's happened," Jeremy said seriously.

"What? Is she ok?" Tyler said in concern.

Jeremy filled him in briefly on what happened and Tyler's expression was stony. "You don't think Katherine made her do something, do you?"

"I don't know, but the more time I waste standing here, the less of a chance I have of finding her in time," Jeremy said.

"You need help?" Tyler offered. "I could take my car and drive around."

"That would help a lot, man. Can you actually go to the boarding house? I was going to check my house first to see if she's there or if Elena's there. No one's answering their phone," Jeremy said in frustration. "Maybe if you get to the Salvatore's, they can help more to broaden the search."

"As long as they don't start anything," Tyler said angrily. "Damon was none too friendly when he visited us with Sheriff Forbes."

"He's not friendly to anyone. Just try not to let him anger you," Jeremy said carefully.

"Alright. I'll keep you posted on the cell if I hear or see anything," Tyler said, heading toward his car.

"Thanks, Tyler," Jeremy called, letting a brief feeling of relief settle in his stomach before worry over Jenna came back down.

"OH and Jeremy," Tyler called out, doubling back a bit. "When we find her, which we will, I say party at your place," he said jokingly.

"You got it," Jeremy said with a grim smile as he started his car and headed home.

Turning on the radio, Jeremy tried to stay positive as he thought of the possibilities of what could have happened. As he was rounding a corner, however, a weird sound emanated from the car and he felt it shutter under his hands.

"What the hell," he muttered as he started to pump the brake to get over onto the side of the road, but the car didn't respond. Even turning the wheel to move seemed impossible; as if the power steering was failing. Jeremy continued to try the brakes as it continued its rounding of the corner; drifting lazily to the left as its steering ran out.

Jeremy didn't get to try anything more as another car approached from the other side. He barely registered the fact until he felt the impact from the collision and felt himself being propelled from the car.

**Sorry for the delay! I was sooo pumped with TVD on Thursday and I loved the intensity and epicness of it all, that I couldn't find it in me to settle down and write! And it doesn't help that I'm obsessing over the Masquerade episode. I'm so excited! AHH! And I love how they play Lady Gaga's "Teeth" as the promo song, haha. Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is by Stateless since I was listening to the album…and it happened to correlate with Jeremy (And about what happened with him…yes, I know I'm evil, haha). Cheers.**


	8. What are you looking for

Katherine smirked at the thought of Jeremy flying through a windshield and getting thrown unceremoniously into hard asphalt. Just inflicting pain and damage was enough to make her chuckle. But as such, she had work to be done. So she waved away her daydreams and focused on the steps approaching her. "It would have made the witches oath void," she thought miserably. She had wanted to mess with Jeremy's car while she had the chance but knew that if he died, it would be on her hands, and poof, no more Katherine.

Sighing, she moved over on the bench to allow room for one more. She had been seated in such a spot in the park to where she could both observe Jeremy as he drove away—and had the interesting conversation with the wolf—and see when her guest was coming. She had no idea where Jenna had disappeared to, but she wasn't too concerned.

"I'm surprised that you would show," Katherine said stiffly as Isobel came and sat down next to her.

"I wanted to meet with you in the first place, Katherine. Why wouldn't I show up? It's been a while anyway," she said with a smirk.

"Too long. I was beginning to wonder whose side you were on, Is," Katherine said, raising her brows in concern. "Have you gone soft on me?"

"Soft isn't a term I'm familiar with anymore, Katherine. I simply had concerns about my daughter. You haven't killed her, so there's no reason for me to "go soft,"" Isobel said with a wave of her hand. "What she does is her own business. I dislike the company she keeps, but then again, I dislike a lot of people. "

"Why Isobel, are you telling me that if I do finally decide to kill her, you'll turn on me?" Katherine said in mock surprise.

"A deal's a deal," Isobel said with a shrug of her shoulders. "She's the last of my line…I'm sure you understand the importance of family heritage, Katherine. It's not feelings for her personally or sentimentality that keeps me motivated."

"Good. I don't think I'd be able to stand you if you got all emotional like a human on me," Katherine said in disgust.

"Are we going to sit her discussing our feelings or are we going to get to the important stuff," Isobel said finally.

Katherine shook her head and placed her arms around the back of the bench. "True enough…so what can you tell me about the spell?"

Isobel wiped a strand of hair out of her face and rolled her eyes. "Not that I doubt you, Katherine, but I don't know why you want to stick with the Bennett witch; she seems completely hopeless with witchcraft. She can't read the fine print and can't think on her toes."

"I have my reasons. Besides, you didn't know Emily and she had a lot of power," Katherine said with fire in her eyes. "But go on."

"Well she used the wrong blood for the spell; you see it required pure human blood injected into the heart. So that just left Elena," Isobel said, leaving Alaric out of it. "But, as you're probably aware, Elena's blood was tainted with the Salvatore's, hence it was not what the spell required."

"So did she die, then?" Katherine asked in curiosity.

"No…Since the spell didn't work, the introduction of blood into her system made her transition complete and she turned," Isobel replied. "So Caroline was drugged with vervain and thrown in the basement after she attacked Elena. What's happened since is a mystery."

Katherine smiled at the thought of Elena being attacked and nodded her head. "Do you think the spell would have been a success had the blood been right?"

Isobel thought for a moment and hesitantly shook her head. "I think that if it was right…it would have worked. There was something going on with the spell work. The energy and everything felt different and Caroline did react. It just shows you that once you have one ingredient wrong…once you're one tiny step off, the best of magic's will fail."

"Well then she best hope that she's on her game tomorrow," Katherine said with a shrug of her shoulders. "And since I'm the one responsible for the ingredients, I already know that those won't be a problem… I'm confident she won't fail, and if she does, well then it's one less witch to worry about. It'll just be tedious to start over again."

"I'm curious, what is it exactly you're planning with the witch, Katherine? You'll forgive me if I don't know what it is you're up to…that's why I wanted this little catch up session," Isobel said with a nod. "We barely talked since the Founder's Day fun."

"And I'm curious as to what your motives are to stick with me, Isobel, besides saving your own ass that is," Katherine said with a smile.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," Isobel replied with a mischievous grin.

* * *

"So wait, you're saying that Jeremy is in the Grill with Katherine right now?" Elena said in alarm as Jenna finished going over everything she knew.

"Yeah, but I don't know if he knew it was you, I mean, he wasn't acting off," Jenna said in confusion.

"He knew or he wouldn't have barged in on you like that," Elena said, reaching in her bag for her phone. She silently cursed herself for having it shut off; for all she knew, Jeremy had tried to call her.

"Jeremy's a big boy, he can take care of himself," Damon said with a wave of his hand.

He and John had taken spots on the armchairs in the living room; John looking considerably pissed and Damon just bored.

"Damon, this is Katherine we're talking about. And with Jeremy's gung-ho approach lately, I'm worried about what he would do," Elena said sounding uneasy.

Her phone vibrated, alerting her to the news that she had 2 voicemails and a text. She listened intently, but it didn't give her any new information. They were all about heading to the Grill because he was suspicious about whether Jenna was meeting her or not. She felt guilty for not having her phone on so that she could tell him to stay away. She didn't know what she would do if something bad happened to him because of her.

"He knew it was Katherine," Elena said to Jenna once she was done looking through her phone. "I'm just nervous now on what happened."

She was just calling his phone when the front door opened with a bang and Jeremy came rushing in.

"Well there's the little bugger," Damon said as Jeremy looked around the room looking relieved.

"You're here; you're ok," Jeremy said in relief. But taking another look around, he noticed John also in the room. "What's he doing here? Did he hurt you?" he asked Jenna, looking angrily at John.

"No, I'm fine I'm freaked out, but I'm fine," Jenna said hurriedly. "Are you alright?"

Jeremy looked at Elena, stuck on how to respond. She merely nodded her head in affirmation.

"It's ok, Jeremy…She knows everything now no thanks to John," Elena said with a quick look at John.

"Did Katherine send her love?" Damon interrupted. "I assume since she left you alive that you didn't piss her off too much."

"Wait, time out. Jenna, you know about all this?" Jeremy said in confusion.

"Pretty much," Jenna said, still looking shell shocked. "Did she do anything? Are you ok?"

Jeremy raised his brows in surprise and shook his head. "I'm fine; surprised that you know now. I thought something bad happened to you because you just took off like that."

"She saw John here roaming the streets and he decided to take her home and go all out in telling her about vampires and all that jazz," Damon responded. "And judging by that blank look on your face, you didn't see him…is it safe to assume Katherine didn't as well?"

"I don't think she did. She didn't react or say anything about him," Jeremy replied. "I was just worried that she had someone do something to Jenna or that she compelled her to leave…"

"I'm sorry. I should have called to let you know what happened, but I was just absorbing all this crazy information," Jenna said apologetically.

"I'm just glad you're safe," Jeremy said. "Hold on, I have to tell Tyler to turn around."

"Wait, what?" Elena said in surprise.

"I didn't know what happened to Jenna and Tyler was around, so I asked him to check in at the boarding house to find you or Stefan," Jeremy explained. "You're phone was off…It was either check a bunch of places on my own or split the search by two."

"Oh way to go by asking the angry werewolf to go to the boarding house," Damon said in annoyance. "We'll never get the smell out."

"It was good thinking, but dangerous, Jer," Elena reprimanded.

"Oh next time I'll just call you and ask you to bring your boyfriend to come help," Jeremy said rolling his eyes. "But oh wait, you didn't answer did you? I didn't have a lot of options and I didn't know what happened with Jenna."

Elena looked at him guiltily, but nodded her head in acceptance.

"What did Katherine want anyway?" John asked.

Jeremy glared and ignored him, reaching for his cell phone and stepping out of the room to make a call.

"What? I didn't think that was a bad question," John said in surprise.

"You kinda staked his girlfriend and burned her body. I don't think he's going to give you a hug anytime soon," Damon replied.

Elena gave Damon a 'really?" look and he shrugged his shoulders and leaned back into the chair.

Moments later, Jeremy came back in the room looking annoyed. "He didn't answer; he said he was going to have his phone on, but there was no response."

"Probably stopping for some kibbles and bits before he starts working too hard," Damon said with a smirk.

"I'll just call Stefan, then, and let him know Tyler will be there," Elena said, leaving the room.

"So did you find out anything from her or did she just taunt you and go on about how awesome she thinks she is?" Damon asked Jeremy.

"I couldn't get anything out of her, but I didn't really expect to," Jeremy said distantly. "But she did mention something that didn't make sense."

"And what would that be?" Damon asked.

"She said she was responsible for my parents death…do you know what she meant?" Jeremy asked seriously.

"What?" Jenna said, covering her mouth in shock.

"I could answer that for you," John responded, standing up. "You want to go for a walk?"

Jeremy looked like he was about to tell him what he'd really like to do with John, but Jenna cut him off.

"No stay here, I want to hear it too," she said getting serious. "What did that bitch do to my sister?"

* * *

Stefan wiped his lips and threw the blood bag into the garbage. Hunting with Caroline had done nothing for him. While it would have satiated his hunger a bit before, it did nothing now that he was reintroduced to human blood.

He was limiting himself to a certain number of bags so that he wouldn't lose control like he had last time, but he was finding the feat difficult. The only thing that kept him paced was the thought of protecting Elena. He couldn't be crazy with hunger; he had to be focused and rational.

He was resisting the urge for another bag when there was a harsh knocking at the door. At the same time, the phone in his pocket went off.

"Hey," Stefan said answering the phone and heading to the door.

"Stefan, Tyler's going to be by there looking for me or you about Jenna, but she's fine and she's with me at home," Elena said as Stefan opened the door.

But instead of Tyler there was Chloe looking a bit disheveled.

"Uh, Elena, I'll call you back, "Stefan said, hanging up the phone.

"Sorry to interrupt you and your girlfriend," Chloe said with raised brows. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah, what's this about?" Stefan asked suspiciously.

"Well for starters I wanted to thank you for helping me out that night…" she said awkwardly. "You were true to your word."

"I'm just sorry I couldn't help you brother," Stefan said sincerely.

"Thanks…the thing is…I'm worried about what that Katherine chick is up to. I have a bad feeling she's not done with me or Tyler," Chloe started. "Did you know she recently asked Tyler about a werewolf's transition process during the full moon?"

"No, I wasn't aware," Stefan said with a frown. "Is there something important about that specifically that makes you worry?"

"Well besides the fact that we are uncontrollable and contagious…" Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "I just don't like the idea that she may be watching us. The full moon is in 24 hours, Stefan. I have enough to worry about with getting myself prepared…so," and here she looked hesitant.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could do me one big favor," Chloe said uncomfortably.

Stefan cocked his head to the side and looked at her curiously. "And that is?"

"I was wondering if you could kind of keep guard tomorrow just in case Katherine was going to try anything…I mean, I can handle myself at any other time, but tomorrow is different," she said angrily. "I would love to personally rip her throat out, but I can't risk being leashed on the whole town."

"In all honesty, Chloe, I don't think Katherine will try anything against you because she'll be otherwise preoccupied tomorrow night," Stefan said, thinking of the spell work. "But if you are seriously worried about it, I could offer you safety here…we have cells in the basement where you can lock yourself in…But I won't be able to look after you tomorrow night."

"I'm not worried about the chains holding me, I know how to control myself beforehand; it's the after I'm worried about… I was just hoping for a set of eyes just in case, but if you're too busy," she said losing patience. "You know what, forget I asked. I'll see you around," she said, walking away.

"Chloe, Stefan started, but she simply turned around and glared at him.

"No I understand…there are more important people out there to watch out for….and if it's as you say, I shouldn't even be worried because she'll be busy, right?" she said with a grim smirk.

He was about to respond when he saw headlights appear in the drive—Tyler's car.

"Don't tell him I was here," Chloe said, rushing away into the darkness, shifting into her wolf form as she ran into the trees.

Stefan watched her leave and then turned his attention to Tyler.

"Hey, man. What are you doing outside?" Tyler asked as he approached the house.

"Nothing…Look, Elena called me and said that you'd be here because you were looking for Jenna, but she said that she was fine and at home," Stefan said quickly.

"Are you sure it was Elena calling you? Jeremy said that Katherine was trying to pull the twin card out today," Tyler said in concern.

"It was her. I didn't get all the details because I had to go, but that's what she wanted me to know," Stefan said with a shrug.

"Oh, alright," Ty said looking around awkwardly. "Thanks…I'll head back, then."

"Hey, before you go….do you know if you've ever invited Katherine into your house?" Stefan asked suddenly.

Tyler looked taken aback. "No, even Elena hasn't been by so it's not like there would have been a confusion…why you asking?"

Stefan shrugged his shoulders. "Just making sure you're safe at your house. Be careful tomorrow."

Tyler's face went white and he nodded his head. "Thanks."

After Tyler got to his car, Stefan shut the door and ran his hands over his face. He debated calling Elena back but was already tired of the phone tag.

Deciding to just head over there, he went to grab his keys. As a second thought, he headed for the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Just one more," he muttered to himself as he grabbed a blood bag and headed out of the house.

**Haha, sorry to tease you with Jeremy's crash. I did figure he'd gone through enough lately, and, as Katherine stated, her oath would have been wiped if she would have caused his death. Hope I didn't make you too mad or crazy, haha. Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is by Sick Puppies. Cheers. (p.s. yay for a longer chapter)**


	9. Said and Done

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. I had to finish up the chapter for my other ff that I'd been neglecting! AND OMFG, Masquerade was epic and…leaves me wondering if they are indeed heading in the same direction as my ending (no entombing Katherine or anything on my part, though….hmmm….Anyways, here it is!

* * *

**"What did I miss?" Elena asked, coming back into the room to see Jenna and Jeremy looking horrified.

"Katherine threw in the part about your parents to Jeremy and John just gave them the run-down of what happened," Damon said solemnly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jeremy said, turning to Elena with angry eyes.

"I only just found out recently and it was when everything else was going on. I never really had the opportunity, Jer. It's not like I was keeping it from you," Elena said in earnest.

"Yeah, don't try to pull the pissed off brother bit with her again," Damon said, narrowing his eyes at him. "We all know how that little tiff ended up."

"I need a moment," Jenna said suddenly, standing up and heading for the stairs. "I just need to…I need a moment." And with that she rushed up the stairs.

Elena took the opportunity to go over to John and slap him in the face. "You had no right to tell her everything, especially about what happened with my parents."

Damon couldn't help but smile at Elena's slap, but he tensed, as if ready to step in if John reacted uncontrollably. He noticed John didn't even flinch and relaxed a bit.

"Your parents happened to be my brother and her sister," John said calmly. "I thought she'd appreciate the news coming from someone who knew how she was feeling."

"Like I don't know what it's like?" Elena said in disbelief.

"You lost your parents, which I understand is a hard lost. We lost a sibling…you can't imagine how it feels to lose someone like that…someone you grew up with and played with and shared everything with like a friend," John said bitterly. "It's not the same."

"John, are you getting sentimental?" Damon asked with raised brows.

"I didn't think of it that way," Elena whispered, softening a bit at the look in John's eyes. "But I don't think I could bare that either," she said with a pointed look at Jeremy, who frowned and looked away in shame.

"Not to interrupt this family bonding moment you have trying to form here, but we have a problem here with the whole Jenna situation," Damon said, cutting in. "Why it's probably better she's in the know, she's probably now pretty unsafe. It's only a matter of time before Katherine tries to get to Jenna again and she'll know that Jenna's up to date.

"Katherine mentioned that Jenna seemed pretty, quote, dry on information, so maybe she won't be bothered again…and I think she might suspect that I would tell her," Jeremy chimed in.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked.

"Well before Jenna rushed off to go after John, I was bringing up the fact that Katherine should tell Jenna who she really was…I wanted to see how Katherine would react," Jeremy said quickly.

"Dumbass," Damon mumbled before Elena started in.

"You could have put both you and Jenna in a lot of trouble, Jer," Elena said angrily. "What if she decided to have Jenna hurt herself right there or attack you or go run in front of a bus…"

"I just wanted to have an upper hand so that she knew I wasn't intimidated," Jeremy explained.

"Right…Hey Katherine, I know I'm a puny human with no extraordinary skills except butting into other people's business, but I can tell something to Jenna she doesn't know, neeener neener? Come on Jeremy," Damon said with a sigh. "I think even Caroline would do better than that."

Jeremy responded with a roll of the eyes and a deep frown.

"He's got a point," John joined in.

"You're not helping," Jeremy snapped.

"I wonder if she's ok with Stefan!" Elena exclaimed at the mention of Caroline. "I didn't even get to ask Stefan before he hung up."

"She's actually home," Stefan replied as he came into the room.

Elena and Jeremy both looked up in surprise. They hadn't even heard the door open or close. Damon and John, however, seemed unfazed.

"You couldn't handle the blonde on your own so you sent her to her mommy? Smooth move, brother," Damon said with a shrug.

"I didn't have much of a choice. We ran into her mom in the woods. It's not like I could tell Sheriff Forbes that she couldn't take her daughter home because she was a vampire," Stefan said, rolling his eyes and settling in next to Elena.

"Is that safe, Stefan? Won't she hurt her mom?" Elena asked anxiously.

"I'll check in on the house before heading home later, but I think she'll be ok," Stefan said firmly.

"I like how you trust a very newly born vampire just like that, but you don't trust me and I've been around a bit longer," John interjected.

"Yeah, but that's because no one likes you anyway," Damon said with a shrug.

"So are we all done with this little get together then? I think I said all that needed to be said, "John said getting up.

"Not quite," Stefan said, surprising everyone. "We have another problem tomorrow and even though I hate to ask it, I'm going to need your help, John….and yours too, Jeremy."

"What did you have in mind?" Elena asked suspiciously, already getting a bad feeling about what he was about to say.

"I need them to guard a couple of werewolves during the full moon tomorrow," Stefan replied.

* * *

"Mom, really, I'm totally fine. Can you just ignore me for the rest of the night so I can go to sleep?" Caroline complained to her mom as soon as they were home.

"I'd really rather have you back at the hospital Caroline. You almost died. You need to get looked at, especially after all the running around you did," Liz said, looking at her in concern.

"I promise to go tomorrow and like, get the bandages changed or something. I just want to be by myself right now," Caroline said.

Liz shook her head in frustration and hung her belt up near the door. "I know you have every right to be angry with me, but you don't understand what I went through. I thought I lost you Caroline."

Caroline felt guilty for a moment, but she couldn't let her mom get the best of her. All her senses were screaming at her and she felt like she had ADD. Every ticking sound of the clock was louder than usual; all the lights in the house seemed to sparkle and shine like individual filaments.

The worst to her, however, was the pounding sound of her mom's heart. She could hear it as if she could trace the course of blood flowing through her body. She had had animal blood earlier, that was true, but she could only exhibit so much control right now.

"I know mom, and I'm sorry that I scared you again. I'll try not to freak out so much the next time you tell me the whole town thinks I'm dead," Caroline said, rolling her eyes and heading up the stairs regardless.

"Caroline!"

"I'm taking a shower and going to bed, mom. We will talk tomorrow morning, ok," she said, not bothering to slow her pace as she got upstairs.

Once she was alone in the bathroom and started up the shower to get hot, she let out a sigh of frustration and checked out her appearance in the mirror. She could notice some subtle differences to her appearance, but it was nothing that really stood out as weird for her.

Out of curiosity, she forced herself to bring her fangs out so that she could see what others would view when she vamped out. "I'm hideous," she said with a choke as she saw her eyes go black; the veins popping out around her eyes and her sharp teeth a vicious sight.

Before she could break down too much, she heard her mom call her over the shower.

"Really, mom? I already told you…"

"Someone here really wants to see you," she called up somberly.

"What the hell?" she thought to herself, trying to think of who it would be.

"Fine," she yelled back, shutting the shower off and calming herself down enough so that she wasn't a vamp mess.

She hurried out of the bathroom and down the stairs, surprised to see who it was that was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Matt?" she said in surprise.

As soon as she was off the staircase, Matt reached in and cupped his hands around her cheeks. "You don't know how happy I am to see you alive right now…" he said in wonder before he dropped his hands and grabbed her close for a hug.

Liz discreetly left the room to give them some time alone and headed away to the kitchen.

Caroline instantly relaxed and felt comforted in his arms and she nestled her head easily against him. But soon, that urge rose up in her as her ear could hear the loud pulse at the base of his throat. She pulled away before anything could happen and composed her face into what she hoped was one of happy surprise.

"Leave it to my mom of all people to spread vicious rumors about me," she joked with a bit of a sob. "What are you doing here? Did my mom tell you to come?"

"No…I was sitting at home worrying about her search all day. She came by and told me everything," he said in explanation, but Caroline shook her head in understanding. "I wanted to see if she found you, so I came by and here you are."

"And I'm a total mess, but I'm fine," she said with a chuckle.

"You're beautiful," he said, leaning in to kiss her, but she shied away.

"Matt, I…I'm gross, I was really going to take a shower before you got here…." she said, feeling guilty.

He looked a little hurt at her reaction but he shook his head in understanding. "I'm just glad you're alive…I never knew what I had with you until I thought I lost you."

"Matt," Caroline said, her heart constricting painfully in her chest.

"Just know that hot mess or not, I love you," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek.

As soon as he leaned in near her cheek however, she felt her control slip a little and she leaned in to kiss him. She only finally withdrew when she felt the painful feeling in her gums alerting her that if she wasn't careful, her fangs would be withdrawn.

"I love you too, Matt….but we need to reunite again another night," Caroline said, backing away. "I'm not in the best of shape right now."

'If he only knew' she thought to herself miserably. She was wondering if she had angered him, but he seemed unfazed.

"Alright," he replied with a smile. "Just don't go dying on me again, ok?"

"Promise," she said with a chuckle that sounded more bitter than merry.

As headed toward the door, however, he turned around slowly and grinned sweetly at her.

"Oh, but before I go, I was supposed to deliver a message to you," he said, reaching in his pocket as if looking for a letter.

"From who?" Caroline asked, now getting suspicious.

But instead of responding right away, Matt found what he was looking for and before Caroline knew what he was doing, he had taken out a pocket knife and cut a long gash down his forearm, the blood dripping steadily onto the floor.

"Katherine says welcome to her world," he said with unfocused eyes.

He looked like he was going to say more, but before he could continue, Caroline, her fangs lowered, pounced.

* * *

"Well that worked out nicely. It was risky and probably a bit reckless, but effective," Isobel said to Katherine as they stood in the middle of the woods. At their feet was a body of a woman knocked out and bloodied.

"It's always good to come prepared and have someone who knows their stuff," Katherine said, giving the body a sharp kick with her heel.

"Remind me again why you're doing this and having me ruin a perfect pair of shoes?" Isobel said impatiently.

"Besides you saying you'd help me? That and the fact that it's an upper hand, and I always have the upper hand," Katherine said with a wicked grin.

"It's not much of one when it's uncontrollable," Isobel said with a frown.

"Oh I know how exactly to control the situation. I mean, I don't think it's really necessary myself, but it so much funner this way," Katherine laughed, picking the body up as if it weighed nothing.

"My definition of fun is sleeping around and doing what I want," Isobel smirked.

"Well, we have those in common at least," Katherine said with a wink. "But don't tell me that some mischief and games like these don't excite you."

Isobel thought about it for a moment and finally gave in. "Alright, I'll bite. Yes. I love fucking around with people as much as the next bitch."

"There you go," Katherine said approvingly as she carried the body to her car.

"How long do you think until he notices that she's gone AWOL?" Isobel asked as the body was tossed into the back seat.

"He doesn't seem the observant type, but either way, I'm not worried about being found out. You've yet to find me, "Katherine said mischievously.

"So tomorrow?" Isobel said lazily.

"Get here before sunset and you'll see all the action."

Isobel was about to respond when the body in the back seat started to move around.

"Tyler," she murmured as she struggled to regain consciousness.

Isobel quickly reached in and whacked her head against the window until she stopped moving.

Katherine looked at her appreciatively and opened the front door.

"Why did you go for Chloe instead of Tyler anyway?" Isobel asked as she moved out of range of the car.

"She was more convenient and experienced, but I'm not against going for him as well. Care to help with that one?" Katherine asked.

"Don't get greedy, Katherine. You can't always have both," she said with a knowing wink.

"Who says?" she said with a mock frown as she put the car and drove away.

"They're not going to like this," Isobel mumbled, her smile dropping as she hurried away from the woods and pulled out her phone.

**You'll have to excuse me if there are any errors. I actually haven't slept in over 36 hours now! So this was written on pure adrenaline and coffee, haha. I still have a TVD high from tonight's episode! OMG! Anyways, enjoy and review! Title is by Meiko. Cheers.**


	10. Say It Ain't So

**A/N: Hey, hope everyone had a happy Halloween! Anyone else out there participating in NaNoWriMo? I am! So, if updates suddenly grow a little scarce, I apologize now. Anyways, here's the chapter!

* * *

**Caroline drank the sweet blood flowing from Matt's full veins in greedy mouthful's, not aware of anything else but the need; the need to fill the desire to feed, to kill, to rip, to break. All that mattered to her was that the burning hunger receded and that the beast inside was satiated. She barely registered his weak struggling against her—she didn't even notice when the struggling ceased.

"CAROLINE!"

The scream that came from somewhere in the distance barely registered in her mind. She had forgotten anything else existed but the prey in her arms. She didn't have the will enough to pull away. This was the first real feeding besides the deer that she had all day and she wasn't about to let some other noise slow her down.

But finally, she was forced to slow down when she felt a piercing blow in her shoulder. She dropped Matt in shock and pain and looked first at her shoulder in confusion, and then in the direction the shot came from.

"Back away from him now," her mom said unsteadily.

The pain in her shoulder seemed to bring her back to focus. She could now remember where she was and what she was doing. "Oh my god," she muttered, looking from her mom to Matt's body on the ground.

"I will shoot again, now move away," her mother said more forcefully.

"Mom," Caroline said, coming into herself more and now getting a bit hysterical. "I…I"

But her words were cut off by another blow, this time toward her chest. This time she stumbled back and was thrown against the front door.

Liz, moving forward carefully with her gun still poised to shoot, made her way to Matt so that she could check on him. But before she could reach his neck for a pulse, Caroline recovered and threw herself at her mom.

Liz barely had any time to react as Caroline hit her arm, tossing the gun away. In seconds she was pinned forcefully under Caroline.

"Mom, stop…stop trying to shoot me, ok?" Caroline said in a panicked voice.

"I'm not your mom," she said, struggling against Caroline. "You're not my daughter…not anymore."

Caroline was taken aback and was left speechless while she stared down at her. She didn't really have to struggle to keep her down, so it was easy for her to just pin her there.

"How could you say something like that to me?" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "It's not like I woke up one day and decided to become a vampire."

"But the truth is that you are one," Liz said harshly.

"So what, because I was turned into a monster I am one by default? I'm still me, mom…" Caroline begged. "I just…."

"Who did this to you?" Liz said, breathing hard. "Who turned you? When? How could this have happened?"

Caroline thought about it for a moment and got off her mom. "I can explain all that later, but right now we have to help Matt."

"You're not helping anyone," Liz said reaching for the gun that was knocked out of her hand.

Caroline reacted faster, grabbing it off the ground and pointing it at her mom. "Mom," Caroline said, getting a bit hysterical. "I'm not going to freakin hurt you, ok? I just want to make sure Matt's ok."

"I'll check him myself, just move away over there," Liz said getting up and staring warily at her. "And put the gun away."

"Wow, you trust me not to attack you, that's a step," Caroline said sarcastically, taking the gun and stashing it in the hall drawer behind her.

With her eyes still on Caroline, Liz went over to Matt's body. Mumbling something under her breath, she approached him and looked him over. She averted her gaze from Caroline and placed her fingers on Matt's neck.

"Is he ok? IS he ok?" Caroline asked frantically.

Liz paled and looked over at Caroline in disgust.

"Would you care either way now that you're what you are?" she said vehemently, standing up and shaking in anger.

* * *

"Stefan, do you hear yourself right now?" Elena said, staring at him in shock. "You want my brother, who's only human to guard some werewolves with someone who might just attack him and drain him dry if he gets a paper cut?"

"Nicely put, Elena," Damon said witch a smirk.

"Elena, you need to stop thinking that I'm useless. I'm involved whether you like it or not. Just hear him out," Jeremy said with a frown.

"It's just a precaution and it'll be safe. The wolves will be locked away themselves the whole time," Stefan said in earnest. "Jeremy and John would just be making sure no one goes in to try to go after them. Katherine hasn't been invited in, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"How do you know any of this?" Elena asked.

"Chloe came by the boarding house and asked for someone to keep an eye on them just in case. I think she has nothing to really worry about since Katherine will be preoccupied with the spell," Stefan said. "She can't afford to have wild werewolves on the loose and risk not getting what she wants."

"Who's to say that Katherine wouldn't just set them loose just to mess with everyone else," John replied. "I'm sure there's something she could make Bonnie rig up during the spell that would be like a protective circle for them. It would make sense in Katherine's crazy mind."

"Then if that happens, we make sure we're in that little happy circle," Damon said smugly. "I personally wouldn't put it past Katherine to distract us from doing anything that night. She promised Bonnie she wouldn't kill anyone, not that she wouldn't make other things kill people."

"Why would Chloe come by and ask for your help?" Elena asked suspiciously.

Stefan shrugged his shoulders. "I helped her out the last time Katherine was after them. She just wanted an extra eye out and thought that I could help."

"So you want Jeremy here to come help me, what, exactly? Keep me company?" John asked in distaste. "No offense to you Jeremy, but if they get loose, it's not like you could outrun them."

"I'd have to side with John this time," Elena said, cutting off Jeremy's angry response and surprising everyone. "John can get out of there and protect himself better. It's two against one, but with Jeremy there it would be the same situation."

"I already told you I don't expect anything, but if Katherine tries to show up," Stefan said, seemingly getting agitated, "she can't try anything against Jeremy without Bonnie's promise being broken."

"And, Tyler trust Jeremy, not John. I think knowing someone there is a help," Stefan ended.

"So you want to serve up some puppy chow to Tyler when he gets hungry and bored with the dead meat over here," Damon said, waving at John. "Nice choice."

"You know what? Never mind then. Forget I mentioned it at all," Stefan said impatiently. "Let Katherine do what she wants. It's ok that we're left in the dark. At least if someone's there, we'll know what to expect."

"Why are you getting so angry about this?" Elena asked, putting a hand on his arm.

"It's nothing…just… I don't know. I shouldn't be this angry, but I just don't want to see anyone hurt if we can avoid it," Stefan said, running a hand through his hair. "Think about it…I need a minute."

Elena stared at him in concern as he left and headed toward the kitchen.

"What's his problem?" Jeremy asked.

"He's probably just hungry and needs a little snack and he forgot to pack some yummy AB positive jello packs," Damon said, but narrowing his eyes in concern toward the kitchen.

"I'll go to the Lockwoods then if we should be worried about this," John finally said. "I'll go tomorrow afternoon and just keep watch."

"And how do you plan to do that without bursting into flame? No magic ring for you, remember?" Damon said, wagging his finger at him.

"I was able to acquire one today, so getting there shouldn't be a problem," John said, looking uncomfortable as he waved his hand in the air.

"Where would you find one?" Elena said in confusion.

But he wasn't able to answer before Jeremy threw himself on him, throwing him off guard as they fell to the floor.

"That's Anna's, you asshole," Jeremy said viciously, bringing his fist out to strike him in the face.

* * *

Alaric rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had been reading through the books Stefan had given him and the old research he had kept from Isobel. He was used to long nights of reading and researching, but it was usually things related to the world wars or history. This was about werewolf lore and weapons and weaknesses; not exactly bedtime material.

So far what he found was the same stuff they had already figured out. He didn't know whether that was good news or not. It was good to be informed, but to not find anything new and helpful was starting to wear on him. He didn't have to dwell on that long before his phone was ringing.

Sighing, he dropped the book on the table and picked up his cellphone. He was wondering if Jenna would call, but this number was unfamiliar. He debated letting it go to voicemail so that he could just get back to work, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rick," came Isobel's voice, almost a purr.

"How the hell did you get my number?" he responded.

"Don't worry about it…Listen, I have some important information for you, can I come in?" she asked.

"No. I don't want you in my house," he said angrily.

"Well it's more of a crappy bachelor pad by the looks of the outside, I can only imagine what the inside looks like," she said wickedly. "I'm not going to try anything, Rick, I just want to talk."

"You're at my house?" Rick asked, looking out his window. Sure enough she was standing across the street, now waving her hand at him innocently.

"Why are you surprised, Rick? I'm pretty resourceful," she said. Seconds later there was a knock at the door.

Rick rolled his eyes and opened it, hanging up the phone as he went.

"All I need is a 'hey, come on in,'" she said with a smile.

"And all you need to do is go fu….."

"Hey, do you teach your students with that dirty mouth," Isobel said, shaking her head. "Now if you don't invite me in, I'll find a neighbor who will and have dinner while I'm at it. Your choice; that young boy across the street looked yummy."

"Enough, fine. Come in," Rick said in frustration.

"Knew that would get you," she said striding in confidently. "Wow, not as bad as I thought it would be, though it is a little sad looking.

"What do you want Isobel?" Rick asked, ignoring her comments.

"I suppose I want to save your sorry life, why I'll never know. I guess I'm a bit sentimental on what we used to have," she said wistfully.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Rick asked, caught off guard by her comment.

"Information…I have a head's up on what Katherine's up to tomorrow, but there's something you're going to need to get to make sure you and those you work with don't get hurt."

Rick pondered it over a moment and looked at her as if trying to see through her. "Why should I believe you want to help and that you're not on Katherine's side trying to pull something?"

"You can believe what you want I guess, but I'll tell you what I know and you can either run with it or perish, but don't say I didn't try to warn you. I would have thought you'd want to be more careful since you don't have the ring anymore," Isobel said with a shrug.

Rick looked down at his hand, closed his eyes for a second, and exhaled a breath in frustration. "Alright. What do I need to know?"

"How's your knowledge of herbs, Rick?" she said curiously.

"Not really up to date on those unless you count oregano and basil," Rick said in confusion.

"You know of vervain, obviously. And you know where to acquire that or you wouldn't have such a nice array of those darts of yours, "she said admiringly.

"So I need more vervain?" he asked in confusion.

"No…you're going to need something a bit stronger and aimed for a different breed of monster," she said with a wink.

"Wolfsbane…You're going to need to get that and lots of it. Both the raw form and boiled up and put into darts," Isobel said, getting serious.

"Wolfsbane….why would I need to get that?"

"Because Katherine's got a wolf captive," Isobel started.

"So we need a lot of this herb to protect against one wolf….I can get it but not until tomorrow," Rick said thinking.

But Isobel let out a little laugh, interrupting his next thoughts.

"I never said anything about just one wolf, Rick," she said with raised brows. "Think. Tomorrow's the full moon…the one time that werewolves can pass on the change…"

"So you're saying…"

"Katherine plans on having more than just one wolf roaming those woods tomorrow night, and those would be the lovely unsuspecting citizens of Mystic Falls," Isobel said with a grimace.

**So I will admit, I used the Wolfsbane idea from the show, but hey, I'm trying to stay true to the show anyway, haha. Anyways, hoped you liked this chapter and will be patient with me with more updates. Enjoy and review. Title is by Weezer. Cheers.**


	11. Breakable

"Jeremy!" Elena yelled out as they both rolled around on the ground.

John seemed to let Jeremy get in a few punches as soon Jeremy was straddling him and punching him continuously in gut. Apparently he knew better than to start punching a vampire in the face, unlike Elena had.

Elena had never seen Jeremy so harsh and angry before; it scared her. She was about to step in and try to pull him off, but she was beat to the punch. Damon stepped in a minute later and broke the two up, easily lifting Jeremy off John and setting him aside.

"As much as I'd love for you to pummel John, you're actually only going to piss him off and he might snack on you. I don't think Elena would like that too much," he said with a shrug and a wink.

Jeremy struggled in his grip looking like he still wanted to attack John, but eventually he settled down. In the meantime, John had gotten up and straightened out his shirt and hair. He didn't look like he was angry or out of control, but there was some emotion stirring on his face.

"She has no use for this ring anymore, Jeremy. Be practical," John said calmly. "It's of better use to me than sitting around in the remains of…"

"That's enough, John. Ok?" Elena said, cutting him off before he said something to piss Jeremy off even more. "I understand you needed to be able to go around in the sun. It can help us take down Katherine…but when this is over, you need to give it to Jeremy."

"What?" John said in surprise.

Damon looked at her in amusement, shoving an angry Jeremy down onto the couch.

"What you did on Founder's Day was terrible," Elena said roughly. "You wearing that ring right now is just a slap in the face. Jeremy lost Anna, Damon nearly died, and Katherine showed her face in town to make sure the plan you pulled off worked. So touting around that ring is just a reminder of what a true asshole you are."

"Uh oh, Elena's pulling out the big words I thought she only reserved for me," Damon said, raising his brows.

"So when this is done, you give Jeremy back the ring and find another way to get around during the day," Elena finished, shooting Damon a dirty look.

"Or what?" John said, unfazed. "I could leave right now. I don't even have to help you out."

"But you are because it's your daughter," Damon said seriously. "And if you didn't help, not only would Isobel hunt you down, but I would as well. Not to mention that Jeremy here would probably stalk you like a true Emo."

Elena looked at Damon in surprise and gratitude for standing up for her. "I don't want you to get killed John. I just want you to give Jeremy the ring."

"I don't want it," Jeremy interjected. "I can't."

"I thought you would have wanted something of Anna's," Elena said in surprise.

"Yeah, you already drank up the last thing she ever gave you," Damon said.

"I'm fine with keeping it myself," John said in reply. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a chat with Stefan about this plan of his tomorrow."

Without another word, he left the room and went into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy. I just thought…" Elena started, but he cut her off.

"No, it's ok. I just don't want to be reminded of it, you know?" Jeremy said, looking uncomfortable.

"Alright…hey, are you going to be ok here with Damon for a minute? I need to check on Jenna?" Elena asked, squeezing Jeremy's arm lightly.

"We'll be as tight as two peas in a pod," Damon said with a smile.

Elena rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs. When she was out of sight, Damon quickly got in Jeremy's face, getting serious.

"What are you playing at Jeremy?" he asked curiously.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy said, startled.

"We both know that what John is wearing isn't Anna's ring…. I don't remember an onyx stone in place of the needed lapis lazuli…" Damon said, narrowing his eyes. "So fess up."

Jeremy looked like he was going to deny it, but Damon stared him down and didn't move until he responded.

"Fine, ok. After the fire I went back to the building to check it out and I found her ring….When I found out from Elena that John was a vampire, I figured he might eventually show up there to look for the real thing," Jeremy explained, staring at Damon stonily.

"So he thinks he's wearing a magical no burning in the sun ring…." Damon said with a slight grin.

"And I hope he burns to death when he tries to go out in the day," Jeremy said vehemently.

* * *

Stefan was pacing the kitchen floor when John came in, looking more irritated than usual.

"You alright?" John asked curiously.

"Fine. What are you doing in here?" Stefan asked in suspicion.

"Well I was done with the little family drama for the moment and decided to see what the real plan is for tomorrow. I'll help on the condition that Jeremy's not there. I don't want to have to watch my back from wolves and a pissed off teenager. He could get hurt," he said, though he didn't sound too worried about hurting him.

"It'll probably be better anyway. Elena would never go with it," Stefan said in frustration. "It's all just a precaution anyway…"

"Personally, Stefan, I think that they should just be taken out," John said suddenly, staring hard at the spot on the floor where he had only lied dying weeks ago. "Remove the threat before it becomes a bigger one."

"They are still people, John. You can't go around killing anyone who's dangerous," Stefan said angrily.

"You would eradicate a wide spread disease, wouldn't you? That's what they are; more so tomorrow than any other day," John said, taking his eyes from the floor to stare at Stefan

"I don't care what wild ideology you have in mind with regards to wolves, and vampires for that matter. Just because you like to kill anything that threatens your existence, doesn't mean others should suffer for it," Stefan said, now looking at John in concern and anger. "If you try anything to hurt them, I'll take you out, and that's more than a threat—it's a promise."

John looked thoughtful for a moment and shook his head. "I would be stupid to take down two werewolves on my own. I'm just stating the facts that no one else will admit to. But I'll tell you this much, Stefan. If it's my life or theirs, I'm saving mine first…and I'd kill them before I let Katherine have them."

Stefan's eyes scrunched together in frustration. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that then. But that's only last resort, John and if they've turned at that point. You shoot to take down, not to kill."

"I thought shooting them doesn't kill them?" John said in surprise.

"I was just using the expression," Stefan blew out, waving his hand in the air.

"One last question then, Stefan. While I'm guarding said wolves, you, Damon and Elena are going to be doing what exactly?" John asked.

"Damon and I will be in waiting until Bonnie finishes her spell. Once she fulfills her promise, Damon and I, and possibly Alaric and Isobel…" Stefan said thoughtfully, "will make our move. Maybe I could get Caroline too…" he said, lost in thought.

"So what you're just going to go out and lunge at her with stakes? Doesn't sound very organized."

But Stefan was still lost in thought. Suddenly an idea occurred to him and a smile crossed his face.

"I just thought of something, but I need to run it by Bonnie…I need to check on Caroline too, so I'll do that first…can you tell the others I'll be back later," Stefan asked John. "I won't be long. It's just a check in and a fast question."

"Fine…but don't expect me to be the messenger boy all the time" John scowled at him, but Stefan was already out of the kitchen.

"Damn vampires," John muttered, his eyes sweeping back to the spot he was stabbed. Images of Katherine flashed before his mind followed by blood, pain, and Isobel. "All of them…"

* * *

"Mom," Caroline asked, getting hysterical. "Is he alright? Is he going to be ok? Is he…."

"He's dead, Caroline," her mom said. "He's dead…."

Caroline slunk to the ground in shock. "No, no, no. Shut up…He can't be, he was still breathing when I dropped him he…."

"He's dead," her mom repeated in shock. "You killed him…."

"Maybe you didn't check him right…" Caroline said, crawling over to Matt's body to check him herself.

Liz looked like she was going to stop her, but Caroline shot her a dirty look. "I swear if you tell me I can't touch him I'll throw you into the next room."

Caroline hesitantly put her fingers to his neck to check for a pulse, whispering a prayer under her breath that her mom was wrong. That the lack of a beat under her fingertips was imagined. That his skin was only getting cold from lying on the floorboards.

"Matt!" Caroline screamed at him as she realized he was really dead. "You can't do this to me."

Without thinking any more about it, she began doing chest compressions and CPR. "Mom, help me," she said in a whisper.

But her mom just sat there in shock as she watched Caroline try to bring him back. It took her a few seconds to be able to respond. "He lost too much blood, Caroline. There's nothing we can do."

The idea of blood seemed to spark something in Caroline's memory. "He lost blood…maybe I can give it back to him. Then he could be ok, right?"

"I don't know….keep doing that then….I'm going to get a towel from the kitchen so we can at least staunch the bleeding from his neck. If he has any chance of living at all, we have to start there," Liz said, getting up from the floor in a daze.

Relief flowed through Caroline for a moment as she thought of the possibility of her mom helping her to save Matt. "We'll figure this out one way or another Matt," she whispered to him as she bent down to blow air into his mouth.

She was barely done exhaling a breath when she felt a sharp stinging pain running from her back and flowing though her bloodstream. She looked down in surprise half expecting to see something there, but was taken back in confusion.

"What…" she mumbled as she turned around to see her mom standing over her with a syringe in her hand. She should have recognized the vervain flowing through her from being stabbed with it earlier, but she was taken off guard.

"Why…" she murmured as she writhed around, trying to stay awake.

"You're not my Caroline anymore. You're a monster and a murderer. I can't let you hurt anyone else," Liz said with finality.

Caroline was about to respond but she was finally overtaken by the injection and she passed out-collapsing next to Matt's body.

Liz looked at her real quick to make sure she was really passed out and she went to the stand near the door to retrieve her cellphone from the stand. As an afterthought, she got her gun out of the drawer.

She brought the gun out and aimed it at Caroline's chest, her hand trembling a bit as she held it out.

"There's no other way," she whispered with tears in her eyes.

**So in between my writing for NaNoWriMo I was able to get in a chapter for you guys, yay! Things are really coming together now and I'm really excited for the action packed adventure! Enjoy and review AND enjoy tomorrow's episode of TVD. I can already tell it's going to be epic. Title is by Ingrid Michaelson. Cheers.**


	12. Possibility

**A/N: So I loved the last TVD episode, but I can't wait to see what they say about Katherine's history. I almost wanted to cry for Damon, though! First when Elena was all smiles and he smiled, but she was aiming it for Stefan. And then, obviously, the little confession and single tear. Awww. Anyways, I can swoon all day. Here's the chapter.

* * *

**John walked back into the living room to find only Jeremy slouched down on the couch and reading a book.

Sighing, John looked at Jeremy and asked the obvious. "Where is everyone?"

Jeremy glared at him a moment and returned his gaze back down to the book. "Elena went upstairs to go check on Jenna and Damon left since he said that now that Stefan was here; his quote "babysitting duty" was no longer required."

"Well, I guess I'm the only vampire around here for the time being," John said with raised brows. "Stefan just left to go check on Caroline and visit the witch. So I guess I'll be babysitting for the time being."

"Stefan left?" Jeremy said, sitting up. "Why now? Why didn't he say something?"

"He did say something, obviously, or you wouldn't know where he went," John said with a shrug. "And I'm sure it was important or he wouldn't have rushed off like that."

Jeremy thought about it for a while and narrowed his eyes. "You don't have to stay on our account. I think we'll be fine enough without you here."

But John simply plopped down and grabbed the half empty glass of water that was sitting on the coffee table. "You know, I've been trying to be nice to you considering the fact that I'm your uncle and I did indeed kill your girlfriend, but I'm tired of wasting the energy on it anymore, John started, casually taking a sip out of the glass.

"You can hate me all you want, but you're going to have to face it that I'm here to protect my daughter from Katherine and whatever else is rearing its head out there. The fact that you just happen to be here too is something I have to deal with for Elena's sake. If it ever came down to whether I live or you live, I choose me. If it's you or Elena, it's Elena. I'm not sacrificing anything for you, got it?" John ended with narrowed eyes.

Jeremy merely nodded his head, and leaned forward in his seat. "The feeling's mutual."

"Then we're agreed, then," John said with a grin. "So how about we just tolerate each other until everything calms down, and then we don't have to look at the other's face ever again."

"I don't need to tolerate you in my own house, so either get the hell out or stay out of my way," Jeremy growled.

Suddenly John was crouched in front of him, his veins out and the veins around his eyes protruding. "Or you'll what, Jeremy? Stake me? Punch me futilely like you did before?" John asked, satisfied at the sign of fear that had popped up on Jeremy's face.

"If it wasn't for Elena, I could drain your blood in the blink of an eye and be done with you. So stop with your cocky act…We all work together for the same goal, or we fall apart and watch others die because of it...let's not have you be that victim, ok?" John ended, smoothing his face out and patting Jeremy on the head.

Jeremy scowled and was about to respond when the doorbell rang. John looked at him questioningly, but Jeremy shook his head in surprise. "I wasn't expecting anyone."

Fixing John with an angry glare, he walked past him and opened the front door. Tyler was standing there looking out of breath and worried.

"Tyler, what's…." Jeremy started.

"It's Chloe…she's gone," Tyler said in a panic. "I can't find her anywhere. I tried calling and I even went out to look for her…even so much as changing so that I could try to sniff her out…but…"

"But what?" Jeremy asked in concern.

"The only thing I caught was her scent in the woods…and it was her blood," Tyler said breathing hard. "We have to find her… I think something bad happened."

"Katherine's what probably happened," John said, appearing from the living room. "And if you want my advice, I'd say your sister is as good as dead."

"No one asked for it, John" Jeremy replied. "But if Katherine has her, Tyler, she's not dead. I think she wants you or her for some reason tomorrow during the full moon, so she's at least alright until then."

"Why would she want that?" Tyler asked in dread.

"Why else would you want a trained killer dog out there? She wants to hurt people and have you mutts do her dirty work," John replied casually.

That comment seemed to set Tyler off and before they knew it, Tyler was gone and was instead replaced by a large, growling werewolf.

"So that's what they look like," John exclaimed, calmly, though looking a bit worried at the sight of him.

Before anything else happened, however, they heard a loud scream from the top of the stairs.

* * *

"So I understand we have a bromance kind of thing going on, but calling me up late at night? I don't do booty calls," Damon said, wagging his brows as he stood on Rick's porch.

"Shut up, Damon. We've got a problem," Rick said, inviting him inside and closing the door behind him.

As Damon came inside, he noticed Isobel sitting on his couch. "What were you kids up to?" Damon said, raising his eyes suggestively at Rick.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Isobel said with a smirk.

"Oh get off it, she was here to let me know about what Katherine was up to," Rick said, giving Isobel a quick glare.

"If she knows what Katherine's up to, who's to say she's not batting for team bitch?" Damon said suspiciously with a nod at Isobel. "That her being here telling you such information isn't what Katherine wants?"

"You can't be sure, but what I have to say can only help you out. You can choose to ignore it, but why bother, really," Isobel responded with a grin.

"I still don't trust her enough to know what side she's on …" Rick started.

"I'm on whatever side doesn't get me killed," Isobel interrupted. "And I'd love for it to be your side so we can get rid of Katherine and make sure Elena's safe, but I can only help you out so much without making Katherine suspicious."

"Fair enough," Damon replied. "What is this important information, then?"

"Katherine captured one of the Lockwood's and apparently plans to let her loose on the people of Mystic Falls," Rick said. "Tomorrow."

"Of course it's tomorrow…" Damon said with a sigh. "Stefan said that Chloe had even come to him worried about Katherine doing something, and she did. Is she after Tyler too?"

"No, she said one was good enough," Isobel said with a shrug. "I personally think that one is all she would be able to handle on a full moon just in case she needs safety of her own."

"So you ran to the history teacher here hoping he'd what exactly? He can't exactly hunt down Katherine to find out where she took her," Damon said. "No offense, Rick."

"I wasn't here to mount a rescue for her. I don't even know where Katherine took her. I told him so that he can prepare an attack against werewolves," Isobel replied testily.

"How convenient that you can't tell us where she took the wolf, only that we need to be prepared," Damon said angrily. "This nonsense is tiring, Isobel."

"Like I said, you can either go in being prepared and warned, or just, I don't know, get torn apart," Isobel said casually.

"The best we can do then is be prepared, Damon. It can't hurt," Rick replied as he watched Damon and Isobel go at each other in an angry staring battle. "First thing tomorrow morning I have to get some wolfs bane and set it up in the same devices I have to use against vampires."

"The vervain of the dogs I take it?" Damon said, turning away from Isobel and facing Rick. "So we just hope to tranq her before she does any harm?"

"That's the idea at least," Rick said with a sigh. "Assuming we even know where to look for where Katherine plans to unleash her."

"Well it's better than just trying to shoot them. It'll barely make them slow down," Isobel said somberly.

"What I'd like to know is why Katherine is planning on doing this in the first place? Is she just trying to distract us so that she and the witch can have their little pow wow without a hitch tomorrow?" Damon asked. "Or is it a present for Santa?"

"She didn't mention Klaus," Isobel said in confusion. "As far as I know, she wants the spell to go off privately and without interruption."

"Anything else you have to say, then, because if you don't' mind, I'd like you to leave," Rick said stonily.

She thought about it for a second and then shook her head. "That about covers it. And you're welcome. I didn't have to tell you anything you know. "

"But you did because in some way or another, it helps you out," Rick replied rolling his eyes and opening the door. Try not to eat the neighbors on your way out."

"I'll do my best," she said with a wink. "Goodnight."

When she was gone, Damon turned to Rick and motioned for the door.

"Well Rick, let's get this wolfs bane stuff, why wait till morning," Damon said with a wink

"The place isn't open now," Rick protested.

"When I'm around, any place is open all the time. I make them like a 7-11 without the weird foreign clerks and slurpees," Damon replied with a smile.

"As long as you don't kill anyone in the process," Rick sighed, heading in to his room to grab his coat and bag.

"I can't promise that," Damon said as he took out his phone and dialed Stefan's number.

"What are you…" Rick started, but Damon waved him off.

"Stefan. Tyler's sister was dog-napped by Katherine. I don't' think she'll be found, but you can give it a try. I'm going with Rick to get some wolfs bane. Let me know if you find out anything," Damon said, leaving a voicemail on his phone.

"Alright, pookie, let's go," he said to Rick, opening the door and heading out.

* * *

Stefan was so concentrated on the idea he had to toss up with Bonnie that it took him a moment to realize that he was already at Caroline's house even faster than he intended. He could only hope no one noticed how fast he had gone getting there.

As soon as he approached the front door, however, he could tell something was terribly wrong. He caught the strong scent of blood coming from under the front door. He couldn't be sure what had happened inside, if the sheriff was dead, but he still couldn't afford to break down the door just in case. So instead, he knocked.

"Sheriff Forbes? It's me Stefan," he called out, anxious for a response.

In response, he heard a great intake of breath followed by her footsteps coming closer to the door. When she opened it, he was surprised to see her looking disheveled and holding her gun.

"Sheriff Forbes? What happened? Are you alright?" Stefan asked, looking at her and then into the hallway to the scene behind her. He had to hold back his surprise when he saw Matt and Caroline both on the ground passed out-Matt with a slight pool of blood forming near his head.

"Sheriff?" he asked again, bringing his attention back to her face.

"She's a vampire," she whispered in shock and despair. "She…she killed Matt. I had to stop her…"

"Are you sure Matt's dead?" Stefan asked in surprise. "And you mean you killed Caroline?"

Sheriff Forbes shook her head and tried to compose herself. "Matt's dead. I checked his pulse and there was nothing. Caroline was beginning CPR, but it was too late. And…." she said, her eyes getting hard. "Caroline died a long time ago in that hospital. Whatever is in there now, isn't my daughter. She's drugged with vervain right now. I was about to shoot her, but…"

"You're going to kill your own daughter?" Stefan asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

"She's not my daughter!" she shouted at him. Then as if realizing where she was, she paused and looked around. "Just, come inside and help me."

Stefan sighed and followed her into the house. He shut the door behind him and was really able to get a look at them now. He could tell Caroline wasn't dead; her body had no signs of decomposing and she appeared to be breathing.

Matt, on the other hand, was another story. Just to be sure, however, Stefan knelt down and put his fingers to his neck. For good measure, he attuned his hearing to focus on Matt's heartbeat, but he was met with silence. He brought his hand away and shut his eyes in sadness. Even though Stefan hadn't really known him much, he knew enough from Elena to know what a loyal, nice, and caring person Matt was to everyone in his life. He didn't deserve to end up this way. Neither did his sister, Stefan thought miserably. He could only imagine now the heartbreak Elena was going to have when he told her.

He had to fight away strongly the urge to lick his fingers and even lap up the remaining blood around Matt. Knowing the sheriff was there kept him on guard.

"He's dead," Stefan finally muttered standing up.

But she wasn't listening. Instead she had her gun cocked and ready to shoot at Caroline, her aim right at her heart.

"Sheriff, think about what you're doing? Even if she was turned, she's still Caroline deep inside. She didn't kill you…she didn't attack you. Doesn't that count for something?" Stefan asked, stalling for time.

"She killed Matt. If Caroline was really still in there, she would have never been capable of something like that. And if she could do that to Matt…she could do it to me," she said angrily, and before Stefan even responded, she fired her gun.

Thinking fast, Stefan dived in front of it, taking one to the back of his shoulder. He hissed out in pain as the wooden bullet dug into his skin. He realized too, that there was a burning that followed its penetration: it had been laced in vervain.

"Stefan!" she said in surprise and anger, as she bent down to check on him. When she looked at his back, however, she saw the slight sizzle of his skin as the vervain worked its way. She backed up slightly in disgust, anger, and realization.

"You did this to her….you were with her in the middle of the woods...you…" she said, muttering and putting things together. "How did I not see this…"

Stefan stood up quickly and stood in front of Liz. "I didn't do this to her, but I know who did. It was Katherine. And if we work together, all of us, you, me, Caroline, we can take her down."

But Liz's eyes had glazed over in a crazy sheen ripe with anger and without thinking she pulled the trigger again, shooting him in the chest. "No…I'll find her myself….I'm sorry I ever trusted you."

Stefan staggered back a bit, thrown off by the pain that was shooting through his body. If she had moved her hand just a bit to the side, she would have gotten him right in the heart. It was close enough to hurt, though. Adrenaline ran through his body and his body responded to protect himself; his primal urge and blood lust rising up.

Before she could get in another shot, Stefan moved quickly and without even registering it, he attacked; grabbing her by the head and snapping her neck.

**Sorry if you totally hate me after this chapter…I was a little harsh, but it had to be done. Hope you liked it regardless! Review and enjoy. Title is by Lykke Li .Cheers.**


	13. I've Got a Feeling

**A/N: I'm excited for Katerine tonight! Hope everyone enjoys that...and this chapter!

* * *

**Stefan dropped the Sheriff's body and stepped back in shock. He could hardly believe what just happened. It was self-defense, but he had taken it too far. He had acted before he thought about what he was doing and now…Now Liz was dead.

He put his hands through his hair, tugging on it as he dropped to his knees in anguish. He had killed a human being—something he had not done in a very long time. His only comfort was that he hadn't killed Liz for her blood, but out of anger and self-preservation: he did not feed on her. But all of that was a small comfort to him as he looked around the room.

Matt was dead, Caroline was unconscious, and Liz lay murdered.

"What should I do?" he thought aloud as he finally stood up and took in the situation.

Caroline would wake up sooner or later and find out about her mom. She would never forgive Stefan for that. Her feelings would clog her judgment combined with the loss of Matt as well.

Stefan heaved out a heavy, painful sigh and retrieved Liz's gun. "I'll have to kill her, too," Stefan said hesitantly. If he let her live, she would only try to take revenge out on him or worse, Elena. She already had something against her for this all happening to her. Even if he hid the sheriff's body or tried to make it look like an accident, it would never work.

Taking a deep breath, he aimed the gun at Caroline's chest. He was about to pull the trigger, but Elena's face kept hovering in front of him—the broken looking face she had when she thought Caroline was truly dead and he held her close and told her it would be ok.

"I can't do that to her again," Stefan thought miserably as he lowered the gun. She would only blame herself if this happened to Caroline.

But what if he kept Caroline alive….

A thought popped into Stefan's head and he pursed his lips debating whether it was worth it. He was going to kill Caroline because of what she would do if she knew Stefan killed her mom, but what if she was told he didn't do it? He couldn't set it up to look like an accident because that would be too suspicious; the sheriff just happened to trip down the stairs… But Liz murdered? It could have just as easily been Katherine.

Shaking his head, he went over to the sheriff's body and picked it up. If Katherine was going to be blamed for this, he had to make it look believable.

Thinking fast, Stefan retracted his fangs and sank them into her neck, drinking deep. Before he knew it he was done. He felt relatively calmer and his thirst quenched. He wanted to lay her on the floor out of respect, but instead he dropped her. He had to make it look like Katherine had tossed her aside.

Making sure he had no blood on his face or shirt, he went over to the stairs and sat down to wait for Caroline to wake up. It would be a devastating blow for her, but it was unavoidable. The only other positive Stefan saw from this situation was that maybe Caroline would hate Katherine enough to help bring her down as well.

He didn't have long to wait as a few minutes later, Caroline began stirring. Stefan's eyes lit up and he hurried out of the house to wait on the front porch. He needed this to play out like he wanted.

Waiting on the porch a little, he finally knocked hard on the door. Going along with his act, he called out for the sheriff. Shortly he heard Caroline's scream as she undoubtedly saw her mom lying dead on the floor.

"Caroline?" Stefan called from outside. "Let me in…"

"Stefan!" she called out hysterically. "oh my god, please help me…."

"You have to let me in," he yelled to her.

"Come in!" she screamed out in horror.

Sighing, Stefan entered the house and looked around, pretending to be in shock.

"They're dead…they're both dead," Caroline said in horror, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't kill her though…I couldn't have, she drugged me…"

"Then what happened?" Stefan asked curiously.

Her face was a mask of devastation, but within moments her eyes turned red in anger and her fangs descended. "Katherine…it had to be Katherine."

Stefan withheld a smile as he leaned back to hear Caroline's story.

* * *

Elena threw her hands over Jenna's mouth and stood with her in shock on the top of the stairs. The last time she had seen a werewolf had been at the river the day Rio had been torn apart. Seeing one in her house was another feeling entirely, but she was able to keep from yelling out. Instead, she surprised herself with what she did call out.

"John, help Jeremy," she said desperately. She didn't know if Tyler was poised to attack, but right now Jeremy was right in his range.

But instead, Jeremy held his hand out, motioning everyone to wait. "Tyler, cool it down. We'll help you with Chloe, but killing John right now won't help anything."

Elena was impressed with Jeremy's calm, but she could only assume it was from him being around him enough. That thought alone did little to make her feel better about it.

John glared him down, ready to attack if needed, but it wasn't necessary. Soon, the wolf began to shake and shift and moments later, Tyler was standing there. He realized seconds later that he was naked and ran into the living room and snatched up a blanket.

"You can keep that now," Jeremy commented as Tyler wrapped it around his waist.

Elena breathed out a sigh of relief and turned to Jenna, who stood still as a statue and was still staring where the wolf had been.

"Jenna?" Elena asked in concern. "Jenna, breathe."

Jenna shakily took a deep breath and shook her head. "I keep expecting to wake up or something or come out of some bad trip, but that's not going to happen, is it?"

"Unfortunately it's all real, Jenna. I know it's a lot to take in, but would you rather know what's lurking around out there or be kept in the dark?" Elena asked her seriously.

"No, I'm glad I know now, but it's just insane…"Jenna said solemnly. "And you telling me that Alaric's been in on it the whole time…well that's the only good news, because then I have something else in common with him," she said with a laugh.

"There you go Aunt Jenna, there's the positive," Elena said, squeezing her arm and heading down the stairs.

"I'm not as positive about all this as you think. I think I'm going to take a nap and then call Alaric over tomorrow morning for a long long chat," Jenna said tiredly.

"Alright…and again, I'm really sorry about all of this," Elena said.

"It's not your fault, Elena. It's not like you created them or invited them into your life…It's actually Katherine's fault," Jenna said with an angry glint in her eyes. "If she hadn't come to town ever, your mom and dad would still be around, and none of us would be aware of this whole vampires and werewolves in Mystic Falls thing…"

Elena didn't even have a response for that. Instead she just shook her head and watched Jenna head to her room. Once she was gone, Elena walked down to the living room in time to hear Jeremy and Tyler discussing different plans. John was sitting sulkily in the corner, his eyes on alert the whole time.

'So what's going on?" Elena asked, looking around warily. "Where's Stefan and Damon?"

"They both bolted," Jeremy replied quickly. "Stefan ran off to check on Caroline and then he'll be back and Damon left to do his own thing."

"Typical," Elena said, rolling her eyes. "What's going on Tyler?"

He explained about the situation with Chloe and Elena's face dropped. "I need to call Stefan about this…maybe he can pick up a trail or something since he's out…"

She left the room to leave them talking and went to dial Stefan's number. She waited a while, but Stefan's phone went to voicemail. Not wanting to leave a message, she hung up and tried Damon's number instead.

"Miss me already?" he said as he picked up the phone.

"So we have a problem," Elena said, ignoring his comment.

"How is it that you only call me when something's happened. You never call to say hello…You never bring me flowers," Damon complained sarcastically.

"Damon, I'm serious," Elena said impatiently. "Chloe's gone missing and…"

"I know, Katherine took her hostage. Isobel filled me and Rick in on it…gave us the 411. I'm actually road-tripping with him. We're quite the Bonny and Clyde," Damon responded.

"I'm not Bonny," She heard Rick mumble in the background.

"You're right, you don't have long enough hair," Damon replied shortly. "Anyways, we're working on it. You and Stefan hang tight."

"Stefan's not here," Elena replied with a sigh. "He went to check up on Caroline."

"Wait, are you telling me it's just you and mr. father of the year there?" Damon said in concern.

"Yeah, and Tyler, who wolfed out about 10 minutes ago…but Jeremy actually handled it," Elena explained. "And I'm not leaving the house so don't freak out on me about safety and all that."

"I don't "freak out" as you put it, Elena. It's not in my nature. But don't get any ideas on helping Tyler out. You stay put and out of his claws, got it?" Damon said sternly.

"Yes dad," Elena said with sarcasm.

"Better watch it or John will think you're warming up to him. He does have super hearing after all and he might get the wrong idea," Damon replied.

"Bye Damon," Elena said, a little annoyed.

"Bye," Damon drawled off, hanging up the phone.

* * *

Bonnie tossed and turned in her sleep, the day's events weighing on her mind paired with the plague of dreams that came her way. Soon she found herself in the same sleep state she had like the last time Emily had tried to communicate.

_Emily was standing in the graveyard and was gesturing at Bonnie. She came forward to greet her and saw Emily point to the tombstone. On it was the Bennett paired with Emily and her parents' names._

"_Our family has a bad habit of not having the most happy of endings," Emily started, looking down sadly. "I'm sorry to say it has a lot to do with our heritage, but with our power, a great weight is placed upon our shoulders."_

_Bonnie looked up and stared into Emily's brown eyes. "Am I doomed to make the same mistakes? Will I just fail or end up killed because of it?"_

_Emily merely shook her head and smiled. "I can't promise you that you won't die because that's a fate all of us are destined for, Bonnie, but I don't believe you will fail. As long as you keep your values and morals intact and do your best, you've won."_

"_See, that sounds nice to hear, but it's another thing to do," Bonnie replied, stepping away from the tombstone. "All these spells I've tried lately have worked with terrible consequences and I'm just afraid I'm not cut out for all of this."_

_Emily frowned and placed her hand on Bonnie's shoulder. "You need to believe in yourself more and have confidence. You are the only one holding yourself back. The spells will only work to the degree in which you allow it to. If you have the slightest doubt in the magic, in yourself, that is when it will fall apart."_

"_Do you believe in me?" Bonnie asked in a whisper._

_Emily laughed and brought Bonnie's head up to eye level. "I've yet to doubt you. Everything will go as planned tomorrow; I know it."_

_Bonnie let out a grim smile and then looked at her more sternly. "You said that if I help bring you back tomorrow, Katherine will be taken care of…will you get rid of her?" Bonnie asked curiously._

"_I told you that Katherine will get what she deserves Bonnie, no more and no less," Emily said more sternly. "You will understand this all tomorrow._

"_But what do you mean she'll get what she deserves? That's death, right?" Bonnie asked in confusion._

_Emily cocked her head to the side and turned away, putting her hands behind her back. "You're too young to understand, but sometimes what you think people deserve and what is actually the right choice is hard to see when you are jaded by your own resolutions."_

_Bonnie stared at her in confusion. "You're right; I don't understand. But it sounds to me like you're saying that Katherine doesn't deserve to die."_

"_We'll leave that choice for fate, Bonnie. But I will do as promised," Emily said with a smile._

"_And what is that exactly?" Bonnie asked, getting aggravated, but Emily was already gone._

Bonnie sat up with a start and looked around. On her nightstand she saw a necklace glowing dimly in the moonlight. Confused, she turned on the light to get a better look at it and gasped.

On a heavy chain hung an amber stone…the amulet Emily had burned in the fire all those months ago.

Bonnie swiped her hand through her hair and sighed. "I hope I'm doing the right things, Grams," she whispered as she resolutely grabbed the necklace and placed it around her neck.

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Much love ahead of time for the reviews. Title is by the Beatles (my fave). Cheers.**


	14. You Better Pray

**A/N: Sorry for this longer than usual update. I was in some sort of writing funk that came from nowhere. I just didn't feel like writing. WeIrD. I think Nanowrimo went to my head since I'm always writing all the time. But anyways, here is the chapter since I got my groove back.

* * *

**"What do we do…what do we do…..oh my god," Caroline cried as she sat at her mom's side staring at her in disbelief. Her anger had worn off and was shortly replaced by grief.

"I hate to have to tell you this, Caroline, but you're going to have to call the police. The people she works with will know how to handle it," Stefan said slowly.

"And tell them what? That I murdered my boyfriend and a crazy vampire killed my mom…" she said, trailing off at the end as tears threatened to spill again.

"You won't have to tell them anything. They will put two and two together, Caroline. They will realize a vampire did it to them both. They'd have no reason to suspect you," Stefan explained.

"I don't think I can do that," she said standing up and shaking. She began to pace slowly, averting her gaze from the bodies on the floor.

"The only other option is for you to be someplace else…at Elena's or Bonnie's or somewhere. Then make an anonymous tip and they come to the house. Either way, they need to be taken care of," Stefan said seriously.

Caroline stopped her pacing and turned to glare at Stefan. "Taken care of? You make it sound like taking out the trash," she shrieked.

"Caroline, that's not what I meant…"Stefan started, but soon he was surprised to hear police sirens.

He looked at Caroline in surprise, but she shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

"That can't be for here, right?" she asked, listening in.

But Stefan wasn't so sure. He looked down at the sheriff and thought of something. He quickly bent down and checked her pockets. Soon he found her cellphone and he scrolled through it.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asked angrily.

But Stefan wasn't paying attention. Instead he finally found what he was looking for and looked up at Caroline. "She made a call about 10 minutes ago to one of her deputies. We have to go: now."

"Why would she make a call?" Caroline asked in confusion, but Stefan had already grabbed her hand and rushed her outside and out the back door. They sped hastily through the backyards not pausing until they were a few blocks away.

"There's something I don't understand," Caroline said quietly as they slowed their pace.

"What?" Stefan asked, glancing around to see if anyone had seen them.

"How did Katherine get inside my house?" Caroline said in confusion. "I never invited her in and you said yourself that my mom knew about her, so she wouldn't just jump aboard and let her in without checking…"

Stefan was surprised that she jumped to that realization that fast. But he was able to cover for it easily. "You must have let her in before you ever turned and you didn't know it."

Caroline looked like she was thinking hard trying to remember, but she shook her head. "I can't think of any time, Stefan...I can't freakin believe this," she moaned out, looking like she was ready to fall apart.

Stefan sped to stand in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Caroline, I know what happened was terrible and that you want to break down, but you have to hold yourself together until we get somewhere safe. You've got blood on you and you're not going to make it much further if you slow down and think about everything."

Caroline sniffed and looked down at her clothing. Sure enough she had blood over the front of her shirt trailing down to her pants. She shook her head and composed herself, trying not to think of whose blood was on her. "Where are we going to go?"

"Back to the boarding house," Stefan sighed, quickening his pace again.

"I should have just stayed there with you….then none of this would have happened," Caroline murmured as she sped up to match his pace. "Oh! Oh my god, Stefan. Katherine totally set it up! Both of them."

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked suspiciously.

Caroline took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. "There was a reason I attacked Matt…he made a long cut down his arm and then said something about Katherine, like a message from her…"

Stefan paused to look at her. They had just reached the boarding house and were making their way to the door. "What did he say?"

"That she said "welcome to her world"" Caroline said angrily. "But if she wanted to send a message like that, why would she just come moments later to kill my mom? It doesn't make any sense…"

"It's Katherine. She doesn't have to make sense," Stefan said angrily. "The bottom line is that Katherine is to blame, Caroline. No one else. If Matt hadn't done what he did to himself, you wouldn't have attacked him and….

"And when Katherine showed up I could have saved my mom," Caroline said with tears in her eyes as they walked inside. "I'm so stupid."

"Why don't you go upstairs and clean up…I'll be down here," Stefan said, taking his phone out of his pocket. He noticed he had a few missed calls from Elena and Damon.

"Yeah," Caroline squeaked. "And Stefan, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you….thanks for helping me."

Stefan simply nodded his head slowly in response. Once she was upstairs and gone, Stefan got his phone out, deciding who to call first. Sighing, he decided on Damon's.

* * *

"Really, Rick, your taste in music is disturbing," Damon said, shaking his head.

"It's Nickelback. I thought rock would be right up your alley?" he replied, glancing from the road to Damon.

"I'm not even going to begin to tell you what's wrong with the first part of your statement," Damon said, raising his brows. "But I do love some good rock. This…this is crap," he said, shutting off the radio.

"You know, it's my car and I can listen to whatever I want," Rick said, giving Damon a look. He looked like he was going to turn the radio back on, but he thought better of it with the stern look from Damon.

"Awkward silence it is then," Rick said, looking back on the road.

"It doesn't have to be silent. We can chat away like good buddies," Damon said with mock excitement. "How's your sex life?"

Rick blanched and swerved the car a bit before straightening out. "That's really not appropriate."

"I guess that means you're not getting any," Damon said, wagging his brows. "That's a shame that a strapping history teacher like yourself can't have some fun. I was sure that when you liquored Jenna up enough she'd be pretty open to suggestions."

Rick grumbled loudly. "I never said we didn't…I just said it was none of your business," Rick said, blushing with instant regret as he caught the knowing smirk on Damon's face. "Let's just talk about the plan, ok."

"We go to this place, shimmy open the locks and steal the green. Too bad it's not the other kind," Damon said suggestively.

"I don't feel right robbing the place, Damon," Rick said, shaking his head. "It's an honest place of business."

"Why would such a person be selling vervain and wolfsbane? Doesn't sound that honest. It sounds like he's up to something," Damon replied, looking out the window.

"He just happens to sell rare plants and herbs because he was in the same field of study as Isobel," Rick said with a glance at Damon. "He sells them for people who know about such things and want to protect themselves. Otherwise, he's a basic florist."

Damon looked surprised, but he brushed it off. "Well if he's up on the whole supernatural things, then he'll understand you breaking and entering to get the wolfsbane. You can even leave money behind if you want."

"Or you can," Rick suggested.

"Sorry. Left my wallet in my other stealth pants," Damon said with a shrug. "Are we almost there anyways?"

"Yeah. It's about another 5 minutes. His shop's not that far from town," Rick said with a sigh.

They drove in silence after that until Damon's phone went off.

"Stefan. …So what did you do, tuck Caroline into bed? You didn't answer your phone," Damon said.

"Not exactly," Stefan said, sounding anxious. "There was a problem at her house, but it's getting taken care of. I…"

"What was this little problem exactly? Caroline go out hunting for a midnight snack?" Damon asked smugly. "I knew she shouldn't have been let around town. Did she kill someone?"

Stefan paused before he replied back. "She killed Matt, but she didn't go looking for him, Katherine sent him to her…and afterward, Katherine came herself to finish off the Sheriff."

Damon's eyes shot up in surprise as he took in the news. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would she kill the sheriff? Or how? Wouldn't Bonnie's little spell prevent that?"

Stefan was silent for so long that Damon had to make sure he was still connected. "Stefan?"

"Look, I can't talk right now because Caroline's here and she'll just break down again if she hears me talking about it, but I wanted to let you know. And I also wanted to find out about Chloe. You left a message," Stefan said, hastily changing the subject.

"Alright, crazy… Like I said in your voicemail, Isobel said she was taken by Katherine somewhere and blah blah blah, so we need wolfsbane since it's the vervain of the wolf people," Damon said impatiently. "We don't know where she is and the best we can do is be armed up against it."

"And this is going off of Isobel's word? Damon, since when do you just believe what she says. For all we know, Chloe is somewhere easy to find. Did you even look around town?" Stefan asked, sounding angry.

"I'll leave the bitch work up to you," Damon said in annoyance. "Call me when you're less irritable."

Stefan was about to respond, but Damon hung up. "I swear, it's like everyone expects me to do everything. I know I'm pretty awesome, but I only care to do so much," he said with a nod at Rick.

"For the record, I think you're an ass," Rick replied.

"That's comforting," Damon said with a smirk.

Rick let out a small grin before he pulled into the parking lot. "Alright. Let's make it quick," he said, turning to Damon, but as he turned to look, he was gone.

"Come on slowpoke," Damon said from outside the driver's side window.

Rick rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Vampires," he mumbled.

* * *

Elena paced around the living room nervously. They had all tried to come up with something positive about Chloe, but to no avail. Tyler kept wanting to go back out and search for her, but they all decided that it was safest for him to stay put. John even suggested that he stayed the night since Katherine wasn't invited in there anymore.

Elena didn't really like the idea of having him there since he could wolf out at any time, but she couldn't sent him away knowing he could be in trouble. She would have suggested him staying at the boarding house with Stefan and Damon, but Damon was out with Alaric and Stefan was busy and it was getting late.

"Tyler, you can stay up in the guest room," Elena sighed, frustrated that Stefan still hadn't called back. "Jeremy can get you set up."

Jeremy nodded his head and headed for the stairs, Tyler following reluctantly behind.

"Tyler, I know you want to find her; I'd feel the same if Jeremy was missing," Elena began with a look at Jeremy, "but if you sneak out or try to go looking for her, you could end up dead or captured and that won't do anyone any good. So please, just sit tight and we'll figure this all out in the morning."

"Easier said than done, Elena," Tyler grumbled, but moved up the stairs regardless.

Elena brushed her hands through her hair and closed her eyes. She just wished she could go back to the way things were before Founder's Day; before there was danger all the time and Katherine roamed the town.

"Those were some wise words, Elena. Too bad you'd never actually follow them yourself," john said, walking into the hallway.

Elena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "What was I supposed to say? Go and get killed? Yes I would go looking for my family if they were in danger. But it doesn't mean that I want others to do the same as me."

John raised his brows and smiled. "It's a Gilbert trait I suppose."

"The idea of family first was instilled in me by my real mother and father," Elena said with a glare. "Blood has nothing to do with it."

John pursed his lips and shook his head. "Are you ever going to forgive me one of these days? Or are you always going to be this bitter toward me?"

"I don't know, are you going to continue to be an ass?" Elena asked, cocking her head to the side.

Getting more serious, she softened her face and looked at him. "Look, you messed up by not telling me about who you really were. I get it now because you were young and all that, but it doesn't change the fact that even though you knew that you were my father, you haven't ever acted like one," Elena said." Even now. You start stuff with Jeremy and you wanted and probably still want to kill Stefan out of your spite for vampires. If you cared so much about this relationship, you should try harder not to hurt me. In the meantime, yes, I will be bitter."

John nodded his head and for a moment, Elena almost swore she saw regret and even sadness play across his face, but within seconds it was gone. Soon he put on a grim smile. "Thanks for being honest, Elena. But you can't just expect me to tolerate vampires overnight; I can barely tolerate myself," he said with a chuckle. "You can't change years of resentment on that end. But what I can try to do is be more tolerant of your feelings towards others…" John said hesitantly.

"It's a start," Elena said with a shrug.

"So are you staying the night, then?" Elena asked after a minute. "I know the guest room is taken, but there's still the couch…"

John was about to reply when Jeremy appeared at the top of the stairs looking frantic.

"Jeremy, what's wrong?" Elena asked with dread.

"It's Jenna…She's not in her room and her car's not in the street," Jeremy said in confusion.

**Again, sorry for the uber long wait and that this chapter was more talk than action. But I hope you liked the Alaric/Damon bonding, haha. It'll heat up again soon. I just wanted to lay things out. On a random note, did anyone see the midnight showing of Harry Potter yesterday? Amazing! Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Cheers.**


	15. My Own Prison

**A/N: Random, but was anyone else a bit disappointed with the mid-season finale? I found it very anticlimactic with no OMG moments…Supernatural left me more breathless, I mean come on now! But the next episode looks intense and I can't wait till January! Anyways, chapter….now.

* * *

**"Where could she have gone?" Elena said with panic as Jeremy ran down the stairs. "You don't think Katherine compelled her earlier or something do you?"

"I don't know. I just went in to check on her and she wasn't there," Jeremy said, his face a mask of confusion.

Elena racked her brains for an answer, but came up short. "We have to find her then. Who knows what she could be doing right now."

Just as she was ready to head out the door, John blocked her way. "What happened to your speech earlier about waiting it out?" he said with small amusement. "I have a better idea, you and Jeremy stay here and I'll try to catch her scent. It's not like you'd find her anyway."

Elena gave him a dirty look, but sighed in resignation. "Can I trust you can actually bring her back safely?"

"Do you mean am I going to hurt her?" John asked with a frown. "No. But if someone has her, trust they're not going to walk away."

Seconds later, he was out the door, but not before telling Elena to try Stefan again and warning them to stay inside the house.

"Does he think we're toddlers being left home alone or something?" Jeremy said in annoyance once John was gone. "He's a total prick."

Elena nodded in agreement. "But he knows that we'd go running off to help Jenna," Elena said with a sigh. "I just hope Jenna's ok and maybe only went to Alaric's or something harmless."

Jeremy raised his brows in an unbelieving gesture, but didn't say more about it. "Are you going to try Stefan again?"

Elena shook her head and headed up the stairs towards Jenna's room. "He'll be back when he can. I already left him messages. For now I'm going to check around Jenna's room and see if there's any hint as to where she could have gone."

"And you," she said, turning around before Jeremy could respond. "You keep an eye on Tyler and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"As long as you don't," Jeremy mumbled with knowing eyes as he headed to where Tyler was.

Elena hurried off to Jenna's room and looked around. She hadn't really expected to find anything useful but it was worth a shot. It was in there that she remembered something.

"Jenna wouldn't be going to Alaric's. He's out with Damon," she thought aloud. "Well, she doesn't know that at least, but maybe she called him?"

Keeping her fingers crossed, she dialed Damon's number.

Within one ring, Damon picked up. "You know, it's hard to do a good B &E with you calling me up on my cellphone, Elena," Damon said with slight irritation.

"Put Alaric on the phone," Elena said hastily.

"Hey Buffy, phone call," she heard Damon call out.

"Because you like to hunt vampires? There's no male version and it's the best I could do on short notice. Just shut up and take the phone," she heard him continue as the phone was passed.

"What's wrong, Elena? We're about to head inside the place, can this…" Alaric began, but Elena cut him off.

"Did Jenna call you or talk to you today?" Elena asked.

There was a pause on his end and then he answered. "No, actually. Why? Is she ok?"

Elena let out a sigh of frustration. "Nothing. I was just wondering if you heard from her because she kind of left without saying a word."

There was another pause as Alaric took in what she was saying. "Are you worried she's out somewhere dangerous?"

Elena didn't have the patience to tell him what had happened earlier in the day so she just brushed it off. "Something like that. Listen, can you put Damon back on?"

He sounded like he wanted more of an explanation, but soon she heard the phone being passed through the air and Damon was back on.

"Missed my dulcet tones already?" he replied.

"I think Jenna was compelled to do something by Katherine because she's not here and even Alaric hasn't heard from her. I don't know what else to think," Elena rushed out hastily. "But John went out to go look for her and let us know anything, which isn't that helpful since it's John."

"So you're by yourself now with nothing but wolf boy," Damon sighed out in exasperation. "Throw him a pig ear or something and let him gnaw on that for a while...Don't go near him and..."

"I didn't call for protection, Damon," Elena said in anger. "I wanted to see if Alaric had heard from her so I knew what the possibilities were…I'm just going to wait on Stefan now and then we can go together to look for her."

"You mean he hasn't talked to you yet?" Damon asked in confusion.

Elena was thrown off guard. "No…have you? Did something happen?"

Damon seemed to take a while to respond, which only made Elena more nervous.

"What's going on? Did something happen? Is it Caroline?" Elena asked, racking her brain for where Stefan was heading the last she heard of.

"No….He'll…He'll tell you what's going on," Damon finally said. "But as a head's up, he's grumpy." She could almost imagine Damon rolling his eyes at this point. "In the meantime, don't get any heroic ideas…Now I'm off to steal some important things if you don't mind. Bye…"

He hung up without giving her a chance to respond and she shrugged her shoulders. Should she be worried about what happened while Stefan was out? She didn't know, but against what she really wanted, she headed to the living room and sat down on the couch to wait for Stefan. For once, she decided to wait for help.

* * *

Jenna drove hastily through the street filled with determination. When she arrived at a red light, she impatiently tapped her hands against the steering wheel. On her wrist dangled the bracelet Elena had given her a few months back—a time when she didn't know that there was vervain weaved into the very material.

The light turned green but before she pressed on, she jumped in surprise to see someone standing in front of the car. It took her a second to realize who it was.

"John!" she yelled out the window in surprise and frustration. "What the hell are you doing there?"

A few seconds later, he was at her passenger side, opening up the door and sliding inside. "I could ask you the same thing. Now pull over so we can talk."

She shook her head and drove on. "I'm kind of in a hurry, John. I don't have time to pull over."

"Well then make the time," he said tersely, grabbing the wheel from her hands and steering it over to the side of the road.

She threw a couple of curses, but braked and put the car in park. "Seriously John, what is your problem?"

He raised his brows at this and looked at her carefully. "I could ask you the same thing, Jenna. What is it that you are out doing at this time?"

At that question he tried compulsion to test his theory, but she was unresponsive.

"None of your business, John. Now if you don't mind," she said, gesturing to him to get out.

"So you have the vervain on…at least you listened to something I told you," he mused. "You have the whole house worried that you were compelled to go on some mission for Katherine, but that apparently is not the case."

Jenna looked at him in surprise and then shook it off. "No. As soon as you told me about everything, I made sure to protect myself…I'm just meeting a friend and I'm going to be late if you don't leave."

"I'll come with you, then," he replied stubbornly, still looking her over to figure her out.

She was about to say something else when John lashed out and threw his hands across her neck. "Now what are you really up to? Because so help me I will drag you bloody to the house."

She struggled against his grasp and gasped for air. "I'm just meeting a friend."

"I don't believe you," John said smugly, not releasing his hold. "Now who are you meeting?"

"Katherine," she cried out in exasperation as she beat against his hands. "Katherine, ok."

He let her go in surprise and looked at her sternly. "And what the hell are you doing that for?"

"I have a plan," she said, rubbing her neck and taking deep breaths.

"If it includes dying, I'd say you're all set," he said impatiently. "Seriously, what are you thinking, Jenna? Elena and Jeremy depend on you and your out to meet Katherine of all people?"

"It's not exactly a meet and greet," Jenna replied, shaking her head and looking grim. "I'm taking her down."

"You're seriously joking, right?" he said in disbelief.

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" she said sternly. "I'm meeting up with Katherine, who still thinks that I think that she's Elena and then….then I'm going to kill her."

"Wow Jenna, I knew you were daft, but this really takes the cake," John replied, quickly reaching over and snatching the keys out of the ignition.

"Just listen to me," Jenna cried out as John took the keys. "Katherine is still in the dark about me knowing about her. I used that to meet up with her…I made up some excuse about how she-Elena- hadn't come home and I was tired of her games….I told her to meet me at her parents tombstone as a reminder of why I'm so worried about her all the time."

John looked at her like she was crazy. "And she wasn't suspicious about meeting you at a graveyard to talk instead of coming home?"

Jenna shook her head. "I told her that at this point, I was tired of her sneaking off all the time and that I found it appropriate to go to where her parents were as a reminder of what's she lost and how much I care about her…..The point is that I made up something to get her there and she believed me. And when the moment's right, I'm taking her down."

"Do you know how…." John began.

"SHE KILLED MY SISTER," Jenna finally screamed out, burying her head in her hands. "If it wasn't for Katherine, she'd be alive right now and Elena and Jeremy would be happy and living normal lives…she can't just walk away. And if I have the chance to take her down without anyone else getting hurt, then I'll do it."

John stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. "I lost my brother that night, too," he said softly. "But it doesn't mean I'm going to run some suicide mission for revenge."

"I didn't think of…" she started, thinking of John's brother, but she shook her head. "It's not suicide. I thought it out. She thinks I'm in the dark. I meet her there and talk things over…I reach in for a hug…and stake her from behind her back."

"I'm kind of impressed but at the same time, Jenna, I know it won't work. She's too fast. She'll kill you before you even get the stake out," John said, shaking his head.

"It's worth the risk," she replied stonily.

"Oh it's all fine and noble to go out with a blaze when you have nothing left to lose," John began," But you do, Jenna. Think about that."

Jenna closed her eyes and blew out a breath of air. When she opened her eyes again, she had a hard determination behind them. "You don't. So how about you help me if things go bad?"

* * *

Stefan paced the floor waiting for Caroline to come down. He already heard the shower stop and knew she was upstairs getting dressed. He hadn't bothered to change himself, but was instead anxious to leave the house. He didn't know if he was ready to face Elena to tell her what had happened with Matt.

He was just thinking of a plan when Caroline came rushing down the stairs.

"Stefan…the police just called my phone and told me I needed to go to the hospital to…to id my mom's body," she said shakily. "They have questions about my whereabouts, but I think for the most part they know it wasn't a human attack."

"You don't think your mom would have told the cops that you were a vampire when she called, do you? Because if she called for backup to deal with you, going to the hospital is the last thing you want to do," Stefan said decidedly.

"Oh my god," Caroline said, wringing her hair, "I never even thought of that…you need to come with me then and help me."

Stefan stared at her and shook his head. "No. I can't. Besides, it would only look suspicious."

Caroline rushed over so that she was in Stefan's face. "Stefan, I'm begging you here. I'm going to totally mess up if I go by myself and try to explain things. I'm a wreck as it is….Please."

Stefan took in her pleading look and shook his head. "I need to check in with Elena….she needs to know about Matt."

At the mention of Matt's name, Caroline paled and looked on the verge of tears again.

"But I guess we can both make a quick run to Elena's before I take you to the hospital," Stefan said in resignation. He really didn't want to go with her, but his guilt pushed him on coupled by the fact that Caroline could indeed blow their cover.

"Thank you so much, Stefan!" Caroline said thankfully, gripping Stefan in a fierce hug.

"Let's just get this over with," Stefan mumbled, pulling from her grasp and heading toward the door.

**Ok, ok, I know I'm a terrible terrible person for making you wait so uber long. I blame part of it to Nanowrimo-which had me write like, 65,000 words in 30 days- and sheer winter cabin fever stuff. I don't know. Anyways, I finally sat down to write and when I did, I easily had 1,500 words in like half an hour so I'm feeling happy, haha. (that could be the vodka giving that feeling too, but I doubt it?) haha. Anyways, review and enjoy. Title is by Creed. Cheers.**


	16. Hell of a Life

"So Rick, is there a reason that you failed to mention the fact that his place of business also happens to be his house," Damon sighed angrily as they stood outside the front of the store.

Alaric let out a big sigh and swiped his hands through his hair. "I kinda never paid attention to that when I came here. I was really only focused on getting the vervain…."

Damon narrowed his eyes at him and shook his head. "Slipping ruffies to vampires was the only thought in your head?Well smarty, you're going to have to do the break in solo, then, since I can't get in."

"Or, umm, since he does live here I could always just go around back and ring the bell and wake him up?" Alaric suggested.

But as he turned to look at Damon, he noticed he wasn't there. Instead, Damon was at the door, now opened.

"I can force the lock and the door open, I just can't go inside," Damon said in reply. "Now get the hell in there and let's be done with it."

"Do you get some cheap thrills out of criminal behavior? I mean, I know you love to kill people and piss them off, but I didn't know how far your tendencies ran," Alaric said as he peered into the house.

Damon smirked. "I live to rebel against society, Rick. It's my main goal in life besides nailing chicks and drinking blood."

Alaric rolled his eyes and stepped into the house. "Are you sure you can't come in?"

Damon tried to walk forward, his hands held out in a gesture that said 'obviously'. "Nope. Weirdo force field in place. Now go. I'll keep watch out here. Try not to be a bumbling, loud intruder either, Rick."

Damon impatiently listened and watched for any sign of movement from upstairs while he waited for him to come back out. All he heard for the time being was Alaric making his way through the house.

After a few minutes, however, Damon was getting antsy. He was tempted to yell out what was taking him so long, but he didn't want to alert anyone of their presence. It was then that he heard talking coming from the house.

"James! I didn't know you were home," he heard Rick mumble in surprise.

"So if I was home, you would have, what? Not started stealing my shit? What the hell, Saltzman?" came an angry voice that belonged to James.

"Listen, I have a good explanation for this as well as cash. I wasn't actually going to rob you…it's just emergency supplies…"Rick trailed off.

"Since when are herbs or plants an emergency?" James replied.

"Since there are werewolves roaming around Mystic Falls," Rick shot back slowly.

Damon shook his head and decided he might as well step in. "Rick, I think you're kinda overstepping your bounds."

There was a pause from inside the house followed by footsteps to the back door. A few seconds later he was face to face with a man maybe 5 years older than Alaric with shaggy red hair and big glasses.

"Are you his partner in crime?" James asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I wouldn't say partner cause that would imply I liked him in the least," Damon replied casually, "but I was here to oversee his failed attempt to enter and leave quietly."

Ben nodded his head and glared at him. "Too bad you couldn't help him out since you weren't invited in."

Damon raised his brows in surprise for a minute, but then shrugged his shoulders. "Pity….Now why don't you come out here and we can have a little chat."

James smiled. "Sure."

As he stepped out on the porch, Damon approached, deciding to knock him out when he felt a familiar pain in his head.

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to come out unarmed," James said with a wicked grin as he stared in intensity at Damon.

Damon could only drop to the ground and hold his head in agony as James approached him looking livid.

* * *

Elena awoke with a start as she felt someone shaking her arms. She was confused that she had to be woken up. She must have dozed off waiting on the couch. She shook off her confusion as she looked up into Stefan's eyes.

"Stefan!" she said as she jumped up and wrapped him in for a hug. She felt him hold her just as tight, nuzzling his head into her neck, seemingly relaxed.

"I was worried about you. You just disappeared leaving small word of where you were going…" Elena murmured, "Is everything ok? Are you ok?"

As she asked, she pulled back to look him in the eyes. She noticed that he looked not just tired, but exhausted. There was also something else playing across him face, but she couldn't name it.

"I'm fine, but something's happened," Stefan replied.

Elena looked him over in concern. "What?"

Stefan took a deep breath and steered her back to sitting down on the couch.

"Stefan, you're worrying me now. What happened?" Elena asked, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach. "Is it Caroline?"

"Caroline's fine. She's inside, actually, "Stefan said, sitting down next to her. "But something did happen and it's not easy for me to tell you this…"

"Why isn't Caroline in here as well," Elena said, interrupting Stefan. "She wouldn't just avoid me like that unless…" she trailed off, glancing from the hall to Stefan's wondering face.

"Before I tell you anything, know first that what happened was an accident and wasn't done on purpose," Stefan began, probing Elena's face with his eyes.

"Just spit it out, Stefan," Elena said nervously.

He was about to answer when Caroline blurred into the room with tears already rolling down her cheeks. "I killed Matt," she gasped out, her hands balling into fists. "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did. One moment he was standing there and the next he went all compelled crazy and slit his arm so that there was nothing but blood and more blood and I couldn't help myself and just…"

"Stop."

Elena's voice interrupted Caroline's babbling, effectively shutting Caroline up—that and the fierce look that she'd never seen on Elena's face ever: pure anger. He let her take a moment to take it in, and watched her face fall in sadness.

"She's telling the truth," Stefan said, taken aback by the look on her face. He was taken by even more surprise when Elena slapped him across the face. There was a deafening silence after the slap as Stefan and Caroline took in Elena, breathing hard and shaking.

"You guys are trying to tell me that Matt's dead, and the only thing you can think of to say is that it was an accident and that it's nobody's fault," Elena said, looking away from Stefan's face and getting up from the couch. "Like that's the most important fact….."

"No," Elena said, throwing out her hand as she saw Caroline wanting to start talking again. "The important thing to remember here is that Matt, an innocent, caring, unselfish person, is dead…" Elena began, her voice breaking as she said the last words; the idea of Matt being dead really sinking into her conscious.

"We just wanted to explain that it wasn't out of malice…it was due in part to…" Stefan was about to say Katherine, but he didn't know if he should mention that and bring on a whole other can of worms.

"Katherine made him come to my house and cut himself because she knew I wouldn't be able to resist it," Caroline blurted out anyway.

Elena suddenly looked pale and backed away from them. "I can't…..I don't care that he was sent or why right now…the fact is that you killed him Caroline. His life was in your hands….and you killed him," Elena said with a stony stare at Caroline, her voice betraying the turmoil of emotions running through her head.

"I didn't mean to….I'm so sorry," Caroline squealed out as more tears poured from her face and she sank to the floor.

Stefan didn't know what else to say. But he didn't have to think to fill in the silence until Elena rounded on him with her angry eyes that at that moment, eerily reminded Stefan of Katherine.

"And you're just as much at fault," Elena said, tears now in her eyes. If she could have used her anger and sorrow as a weapon, she would sling it at them in seconds. "You were supposed to be watching out for Caroline…you said she'd be fine at home…that she'd be in check because she already fed and because her mom was there…."

"I was…" Stefan began, but she stopped him with a look.

"My mother's dead too," Caroline sobbed from her place on the floor, "but Katherine was the one who finished her off…."

Elena momentarily forgot her anger and took in this new bit of information. "What?" she said, now shaking with grief.

"I was passed out because when my mom found out what I was, she got me with vervain, but when I came to she was dead…she was bitten and her neck was…it was just…" but Caroline shook her head and couldn't finish.

"By the time I had gotten to the house to check on Caroline, everything had already happened. But listen to me," Stefan said, taking the moment to explain, and grabbing Elena gently by the shoulders. "Katherine is trying to use this to break us all apart…to hurt us, but we need to stick together. And she will pay for this."

Elena shook her head and let her tears fall. "This is your fault," she whispered to Stefan.

Stefan's face fell as he took in her words.

"If you hadn't let Caroline out of your sight….if you hadn't come here and brought Katherine padding after you…."Elena started, her voice rising in anger as memories of Matt alive and happy raced against her head, teasing her of what would never be again. "If you never saved me…." she said, her voice lowering, "then everyone I cared about and all the innocent others that died would still be here."

She ended with a strangled cry and flew out of the room and out of the house, leaving behind a shell shocked Caroline and a broken Stefan.

* * *

"I'm sorry to have to cut our little fun short, but I have some important twin duty to attend to," Katherine purred to the blonde haired men lying in her bed. "But do me a favor," she said, her eyes dilating as she stared him in the eyes, "If that girl in there in so much as twitches, I want you to stick her with that needle right there. Do you understand?"

"I understand," he murmured softly.

She smiled and petted his head. "In the meantime, keep watch and don't leave."

She saw him nod, still transfixed, as he grabbed the syringe and headed to the next room to keep watch on Chloe.

"I love your home by the way," she chuckled as she left the house.

She hadn't really planned on leaving and doing anything until the big event tomorrow, but she couldn't pass up on the opportunity to meet up with a clueless Jenna. If Katherine was anything, it was prepared. She wanted all the aces in her hand so that if it didn't go her way, she had backups….like the werewolf, and perhaps now a hostaged Jenna.

She had even thought it a bit poetic to meet Jenna at a cemetery at all places. "Shame I can't kill her," Katherine sighed.

A few minutes later, she pulled up to the cemetery. She hadn't a clue where Elena's parents were supposed to be buried, so she could only hope Jenna was there first. Otherwise she would have to flit around trying to find the Gilbert gravestones and she didn't have the patience for that right now. But luckily, she caught sight of Jenna standing near some gravestones a ways back near a clearing of trees.

"Perfect," Katherine murmured as she was careful not to walk to fast to Jenna and alert her that something was off.

When she finally reached Jenna, she noticed that she looked a bit skiddish, almost nervous. She narrowed her eyes and glanced around, trying to see if there was anything to be worried about, but came up short.

"Hey Jenna," Katherine said, plastering on a fake smile.

In response, Jenna stared at her hard and took a deep breath. "Do you know why we're here right now?" she asked, looking angry.

Katherine glanced down at the gravestones, reading the names and committing them to memory just in case she needed to know them in the future. She shrugged her shoulders at Jenna with a glance to the tombstones. "I honestly don't understand fully why we need to be here of all places…did something happen. You look off."

Jenna shook her head and stepped forward. "We need to be here of all places because family above all else is important," she began shakily. "No matter if our family is just our parents or aunts and uncles, or even a brother….or sister….It's important to never forget to live for them and keep everyone safe."

"I can't do that if you're running around without me having a clue where you are," Jenna ended stonily. "I need to keep this family safe from anything and anyone out there….I promised my sister I would always look out for her children."

"I understand, Jenna, and I'm sorry I made you worry," Katherine replied, already bored with the talk about family.

"I don't really think you are sorry," Jenna replied shaking her head, "but a hug would help."

Katherine repressed the urge to roll her eyes and laughed. "All right then."

They hugged for a moment, Jenna slowly reverting from the two armed hug to the one armed pat. Katherine thought it was going on a bit too long and was about to pull away when she heard a yell and quickly broke free from Jenna's grasp. She had a second to register the stake in Jenna's hand before she swiftly knocked it out and grabbed Jenna in a choker-hold.

"Well hello, Elena…funny seeing you here," Katherine cooed as she gripped Jenna tighter.

**I know I know…..I've turned into a terrible updater out of nowhere. I think the writer in me is neurotic and weird…who knows. Anyways, here it is and I should update again sooner rather than later because I have the action picking up again. Thanks to those who are sticking with and don't mind my lapses in creativity! Hope your new year was amazing! Review and enjoy. Title by Kanye West.**


	17. Know Your Enemy

"James, please stop. I swear he's on our side," Alaric said as he came to the doorway where Damon was on his knees.

"Since when do you side with vamps, Saltzman?" James asked, not releasing his hold on Damon. "You forgetting your vervain?"

Alaric shook his head and looked at him pleadingly. "I will explain this all, just stop doing your mind thing on him."

James rolled his eyes in response and let Damon go. "Fine, your boyfriend can live for now."

"He is not my boyfriend," Alaric said in embarrassment.

"If I ever even swang for that team, do you honestly think I'd go for brooding history teacher? Seriously," Damon said testily as he got up from the ground, staring at James angrily.

Alaric gave Damon a look and then looked seriously at James. "What I said earlier was true. There are werewolves in Mystic Falls and I'm in desperate need of wolfs bane. You're the only one I know of to get it on time."

"You know, they make these things called cellphones and even doorbells these days," James said stonily, looking from Rick to Damon. "But I guess if you found it urgent enough to try a B&E, I'll hear you out."

"How considerate of you. …What? He mind raped me, I can be testy," Damon said in response to Rick's hostile look. "Why didn't you tell me this dude was a witch, Rick?"

"I don't exactly make that fact common knowledge," James said with raised brows. "And I generally stay out of the affairs of vampires as well."

"Damon, I'm going to talk over this whole situation with James and figure this out," Alaric decided. "Maybe he knows something else that can help us prepare against them."

"Or even better," Damon said with sudden inspiration, "Maybe he can tell us if there's some way for Bonnie to break her oath with Katherine so none of this has to go down tomorrow."

James looked at Rick and Damon in confusion. "Do you have a witch on your side? What's going on?"

"I was possibly going to get to that part," Rick said with a sigh. "But long story short, there's a vampire in town out for destruction who's basically going to set loose a werewolf on this town; the one time they are able to turn people-during the full moon."

James shook his head. "Ok, I understand your need for the wolfs bane, then. But what was it about an oath?"

"Our neighborhood witch in training decided to make some stupid oath with said vampire to bring someone back from the dead for her. If she doesn't fulfill her promise, she croaks and apparently some people have a problem with Bonnie kicking the bucket," Damon said with a shrug.

"A witch's oath is pretty serious," James said pensively, ignoring Damon's last comment. "From everything I've studied with the craft, you can't break it. It's actually a pain in the ass. That's why I don't deal with vampires ever."

Damon crossed his arms over his chest and blew out a breath of air. "So you're saying you can't help us with that part?"

"Afraid not. And honestly, I wouldn't get myself involved either way," James said honestly. "However, I can help you with the wolfs bane, Saltzman."

"Thanks, Jame….." Rick began.

"Wait…You mean you couldn't help Bonnie out to make sure she doesn't mess up and, I don't know, bring Satan back instead? She has a real problem with getting spells right these days," Damon said testily. "And she's raising the dead here. Not exactly an easy thing to do."

"Well she should have thought about what she was doing before she made such a promise," James said without feeling. "And I've already told you, I don't get involved with vamps."

"What happened the last time you did?" Damon asked suspiciously.

"Someone I cared about died. End of story," James said with a finite look.

"Enough, ok. Enough," Rick said finally, breaking up the tension. "Damon, just head back to town. I'll get what we need and get it set up for tomorrow."

Damon raised his brows in surprise. "You want me to leave you here alone?" he asked with a pointed look to Rick's now bare ring finger.

"I trust him Damon. I just don't want you guys to start getting into it. Not when there's a lot at stake tomorrow," Rick said sternly.

"Suit yourself, Rick. But if you come back as a frog, it's your fault," Damon said with a pointed look at James.

"Better a frog than a drained corpse," James shot back.

"You wanna test that theory out yourself?" Damon said, wagging his brows.

"Damon, just go," Rick said in exasperation.

Damon smirked and turned around, headed off into the night.

"Alright, Saltzman, so start from the beginning," James said, starting in towards his house.

Rick shook his head and laughed following him inside. "That might take a while."

* * *

"Let her go," Elena said, breathing heavily.

After she had stormed out of the house, she knew she had to go somewhere where she could be alone and just breathe and think without anyone bothering her. But it didn't help that many places in Mystic Falls would be haunting reminders of Matt, whether it was the park they would spend hours of their childhood in, or random spots in town. It wasn't going to help her to be reminded of the loss so soon.

He was her best friend since childhood—someone who progressed into the kind hearted man that she grew to love for some time once they decided to go a step further. Even though they had broken up, she still cherished the connection they had. He was also the only other fleeting connection she had now with the normal world that didn't include vampires, werewolves, and death.

She found her feet swiftly running to her last place of refuge; a place she used to contemplate and find comfort in when her parents were no longer around—the cemetery. She hadn't paid attention to any noises or sights on her way in or she would have noticed Jenna's car and the conversation that had been going on. As such, she had basically sprinted with everything in her to be alone with her parents and as luck would have it, she ran into the person she least expected and wanted.

"Oh but Jenna so wanted to give me a hug…it was so important that we bonded," Katherine said with a little squeeze. "See, and I thought she believed I was you, but she had a little stake up her sleeve….turns out she wasn't as naïve as I suspected."

Elena saw Jenna look at her apologetically and struggle even more.

"You've already killed one person tonight, Katherine, and set up the murder of one more. Just stop," Elena said forcefully, getting closer and closer. "What will it take for you to stop?"

A flicker of confusion passed across Katherine's face and was quickly replaced with a lopsided smile. "Funny, I haven't killed anyone today, Elena. Bonnie's witchy powers said I'm not allowed, remember? But I did send Caroline a little message….I guess she got it. That's her fault I'm afraid."

"Don't lie," Elena said, shaking her head and forming her hands into fists. She really had sent Matt in to get at Caroline. "You killed Sheriff Forbes. What, were you watching outside while Caroline killed Matt? Did you get jealous you weren't in on the bloodbath yourself and decided to do some killing of your own?"

Katherine narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip, still looking confused, and then gasped, dropping Jenna from her grasp. Shaking her head and taking a few deep breaths, she looked around in confusion. Then she shut her eyes and shook her head with a chuckle.

In the meantime, Jenna started coughing and gasping for air, crawling as fast as she could away from Katherine and toward Elena. Elena hurriedly got to her, getting down on her knees to make sure she was ok.

"Well that was interesting," Katherine panted out, watching Jenna and Elena with hooded eyes.

"What the hell just happened?" Elena asked, looking around and half expecting Bonnie to pop up because of Katherine's reaction.

"You just witnessed why I couldn't have killed your pathetic sheriff any more than I could have killed Jenna," Katherine said angrily. "If I even so much as bring them to the brink of death, I'm punished. Annoyingly enough, it's quite a kick in the ass…."

Elena looked at her in confusion.

"I can't kill anyone, well until tomorrow night at least. That's what Bonnie and my agreement was, at least. IF I do, I die. If I hurt someone bad enough, I get hurt, got it? I don't do the whole pain and dying thing, Elena. Not this time around," Katherine said, looking sincere.

"You had to have had a hand in it….Stefan said…." Elena trailed off, shaking her head.

"Believe what you want…maybe it was your precious Stefan, Elena," Katherine said, her eyes glowing. "Maybe he was hungry. I know he's back on the real blood diet now…Bunnies probably won't quite make the cut."

"He would never," Elena said angrily.

Katherine shrugged her shoulders and looked pointedly at Jenna. "What you tried here tonight won't be forgotten," she said with a warning. "Just because I'm not invited into your house anymore doesn't mean you're safe."

"But, I won't have my time wasted here in exchange for nothing," Katherine said with a smirk. "I'm gonna need a little payment for my precious time."

Elena was still battling what Katherine had said about Matt and the sheriff earlier that it took her a moment to realize Jenna had started talking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked Katherine now that she was on her feet again.

Katherine simply raised her brows and licked her lips. "You interrupted my dinner plans, Jenna. It's time for you to pay up."

She let out a small laugh that was eerily like Elena's, and let her fangs descend. Her laugh was abruptly cut short when an arrow came out of the trees behind her to find a target in her chest. She gasped in surprise and fell to her knees with a shocked Elena and Jenna staring into the distance to find the attacker.

They were surprised to see two sets of eyes staring at them from the tree line.

* * *

"I wish Bonnie's spell would have just killed me," Caroline said miserably as she filled the silence of Elena's absence.

Stefan had been sitting on the couch for a while going over in his mind what had happened at Caroline's and what Elena had yelled at him. It took him a moment to realize Caroline was talking.

"What?" Stefan said, coming out of his daze.

"If I would have just died, my mom and Matt would be alive and I wouldn't be a monster. A miserable, blood junkie, monster," Caroline said with a sniffle.

"You're not in control of yourself, Caroline. You may feel like a monster right now, but once you learn restraint and composure, you will forgive yourself," Stefan said somberly.

"Have you ever forgiven yourself?" Caroline asked quietly.

Stefan chuckled and shook his head. "Damon wouldn't call me brooding if I had."

Caroline laughed at that and wiped her eyes. "So what are we going to do Stefan? I have to go to the hospital. They are expecting me."

"Then we go there and figure it out," Stefan said, standing up. At this point, he felt good to just do something than go through all the thoughts and images running through his head.

"I hope it won't take too long there, though. I can't be out much longer. Isn't it almost sunrise. Like, in a few hours?" Caroline asked in curiosity.

Stefan nodded his head. "Then we make it a fast trip. I hate leaving here with Elena out, though."

"We are the last two people on the planet she wants to see right now, Stefan. I think it's safe to say she hopes we are gone when she gets back," Caroline said, shaking her head.

"When she's not so upset, she'll forgive you Caroline," Stefan said seriously. "Just give it time. She'll understand it was an accident."

"I hope you're right," Caroline said, heading toward the door.

When they reached the door to the hospital, Stefan stopped and brought his hands out to grasp Caroline's shoulder. "Remember, if you feel like they are doubtful, you can always use compulsion. Remember what I told you about that?"

Caroline shook her head and took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with," she said, slowly.

But Stefan didn't let go, instead he continued talking. "And you have to play dumb about Matt. You didn't know he visited your house. You hadn't been home in a while. Just don't look suspicious."

"Stefan," she said, shaking off his hands. "If you talk to me anymore about this, I'm gonna really freak out, ok. I'll handle it when I'm there. Now let's go while we have the time."

She had been instructed to go straight to the morgue to id the body and to talk with the officers. She knew that it was just a formality with the id-ing part since they of course knew who it was. The real reason, she knew, was to find out if she knew anything and especially about Matt being there as well.

At the doors were two officers that Caroline knew since she was little. She probably knew all of the police in Mystic Falls because of her mother. She only hoped that this knowledge would make everything go easy.

"Caroline," one of the officers said, approaching her solemnly.

"Tim, what happened?" Caroline said with tears in her eyes. "I got your voicemail and came as soon as I could. I was asleep at a friend's house and….what happened?" she said shakily.

The officers shook their heads in sympathy. "I'm sorry, Caroline. We can't go into the details with you as we are still investigating….We just need to ask you a few questions. Who's your friend here?"

"Stefan Salvatore," Stefan said, extending a hand. "She was staying over at my place with my girlfriend."

They nodded their heads, and one of them took out a notepad to take notes. "What time was Caroline over at your place?"

Stefan pretended to think for a while before answering. "I would say around maybe 3p.m. till just 25 minutes ago when she got the call and we left."

"I don't understand," Caroline said, shaking her head. "How did my mom die? Did someone murder her? What aren't you telling me. Please, Tim."

Tim closed his notebook and looked at Caroline. "It looked like animal attacks, but her neck was also broken, signaling that it's possible that it wasn't…."

"Attacks?" Stefan said in a tone he hoped sounded surprised.

Tim shook his head and looked at them both. "A Mr. Matthew Donovan was also found attacked at the scene."

At that, Caroline gave it all she had and fake collapsed into Stefan.

"Caroline," Stefan said in surprise.

"I assume she knew him," Tim said, helping drag Caroline to a chair.

"He's her boyfriend," Stefan said slowly. "Is he alright?"

Tim looked to the other officer who nodded his head. "I'm afraid his attack was too severe and he didn't make it. He was, like Ms. Forbes, dead on arrival."

Stefan blew out a breath of air. "What's going on, officer?"

"I thought we knew," he said with a shrug. "Is there somewhere you can take Caroline for now? Her house is taped up for the time being."

"She can come back with me," Stefan said, glad that things had gone over so easily.

"Alright. Tell her we'll be in contact. You too," he said with a nod to Stefan.

Stefan nodded and waited till the officers had left to start talking to Caroline.

"The coast is clear," he said to her.

Seconds later, she popped her eyes open and sat up. "How was that? I'm not called a drama queen for nothing!"

"I think they believed it. I didn't really expect them not to. They said it was animal attacks so they couldn't really hold us. Especially since you weren't home all day," Stefan said with a grim smile. "Now let's get out of here before the sun starts coming out."

"As long as it's your place. I'm starving," she said shakily.

"Me too," Stefan said, thinking longingly of the packets in the fridge.

They were just heading out to the parking lot when the officers came up to her.

"Caroline, wait. This was on your mother when she was found. I think she'd want you to have it," Tim said, handing something silver to Caroline.

She looked at him in confusion but grabbed it, about to thank him. But suddenly she felt it starting to burn in her hand and she dropped it as if it was a live coal.

"What the hell!" She said, but her complaint was cut off when she looked up to see them aiming their guns at her and Stefan.

**Sorry for the delay. I recently acquired an Ipad, and it's so easy to just use that to browse the web then lugging out my old dell. As such, there is no Microsoft word on the ipad, nor is the typing pleasant with the touch screen. But I haven't forgotten my work, so here's the next chapter! I even recently reread my story from the beginning (I forgot how long it is) to make sure I don't say something to contradict my story. Anyways, read and enjoy. I can't wait till next week and the new episode! Title is by Green Day. Cheers.**


	18. Cyanide

Elena wasn't looking for the attacker too long before the two men came into the clearing.

"John?" Elena said in surprise as he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground by no one other than Klaus.

"I should have known maggots like you don't die," Katherine said harshly as she reached to try to extract the arrow from her back. Had John's mark gone a few inches over, she would have been dead.

"Found this one in the trees. Just be lucky I got to him when I did, love," Klaus said, going over to Katherine and mercilessly yanking the arrow out in one swift motion. She screamed out in pain, bending over and placing her hands on her knees to steady herself.

While they were distracted, John made eyes at Elena, motioning for her to get away. But she barely had any time to do anything before Katherine and Klaus brought their attention back to them.

"You were having a cozy little party here? I guess my invitation got lost in the mail," Klaus said with glowing eyes as he walked over and kicked John hard in the ribs.

"Stop," Elena said, worried about what Klaus would do.

"And you brought refreshments," he said with a wink at Elena.

In seconds he had her in his grasp, holding him in front of him as if to bite her neck from behind. "You smell good," he whispered with a chuckle.

"Let her go you bastard or I'll…." John began, jumping up and growling.

"What? Try to shoot me with that bow and arrow lying in the woods. I don't think so," he said coolly. "But I think Katherine here is a bit parched after your little stunt."

"Just let Jenna and John go and I'll do what you want," Elena said fiercely.

"No way in hell. This is too priceless an opportunity" Katherine said with a smile as her wound slowly began to heal. "John, John, John….where have you been hiding this whole time? Better yet, how are you a vampire?"

Elena tried to slip out of Klaus's hands, but he gripped her tighter, moving his hand suggestively on her hip. "You wanna have a go, love?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Get your hands off my daughter. If you want to fight, let's go. Just me against you and Katherine. The humans aren't a part of this," John said menacingly.

Klaus somehow found that amusing and started laughing. "You're her father? That's precious…."

From the corner of her eye, Elena saw Jenna grabbing something in the grass—the stake Katherine had tossed aside before Elena came running in. Elena wanted to tell Jenna not to do anything stupid, but she couldn't do so without giving her away.

"This is my fault," Jenna said, speaking up and standing up from her spot on the ground. "If you want someone to take, take me…"

"Jenna," Elena said warningly.

Katherine seemed to think it over, walking over to Jenna and sizing her up. "You know, ladies, the ball is entirely in my court here."

While Katherine was talking to Jenna and John, Elena leaned back to talk into Klaus's ear. "Please let them go. Convince Katherine to let them go…You…" Elena wavered, "you can have my blood if you do…"

Klaus let out a low chuckle and whispered back. "Like I need your permission to take it, Elena. I can take you right now and still let Katherine have her way."

She was about to say something else when she heard Jenna scream. Elena and Klaus looked up to see Katherine and John fighting it out, John looking worse for the wear. But Jenna was able to get John's attention and throw him the stake she had managed to grab.

With that in hand he and Katherine started circling each other like true predators.

"You going to let me go or are you going to let Katherine have it?" Elena said fiercely.

"Oh, you see, I don't need to physically get involved with your father to give Katherine the upper hand," he said wickedly. And with that he sunk his fangs painfully into Elena's neck, eliciting a high scream from her mouth.

At that moment, John looked over to check on Elena and that's when Katherine struck, grabbing John's head and twisting it till it was almost to its breaking point.

"NO!" Jenna screamed, jumping on Katherine's back and pulling her hair.

Elena looked on helplessly as Katherine tossed Jenna like a rag doll from her back and threw her hard against a tree. She could feel her knees start to give out on her and would have passed out had Klaus not caught her.

"Easy, love," he said with a wink and laid her down on her back as he went to join Katherine.

But before he walked two steps, he and Katherine both froze as they heard the distinctive howling of a wolf.

* * *

"What's going on down there?" Jeremy said in surprise as he heard raised voices. He had just fallen asleep when the noises below woke him.

"Matt's dead," Tyler said somberly from near the window, startling Jeremy.

Jeremy had almost forgotten he told Tyler to stay in his room just as a measure of good faith that he wouldn't run off to look for Chloe. So hearing his voice made him jump.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy said, taking in the news.

"I can hear a lot better now that I'm….I heard Stefan and Caroline down stairs talking to Elena and Caroline said she killed Matt," Tyler said.

Jeremy noticed he was clenching his fists and trying not to react. Matt was his best friend. Jeremy could only imagine how he felt right now.

"How?" Jeremy said, jumping off the bed.

"Katherine sent Matt to Caroline's and Caroline killed him….drained him," Tyler said, looking pale. "They are saying it was an accident and that….wait….Shit, Sheriff Forbes is dead too."

"What!" Jeremy said in even more shock!

He stood there waiting for Tyler to say more, but he was standing there still listening. Soon they heard the front door open and slam, Elena running out of the front of the house and running down the street.

"Where's she going?" Tyler said, watching her run.

Jeremy joined him at the window and watched. "I don't know….Considering she's on foot, she's probably not headed to town…maybe the cemetery…."

"I can't believe Matt's dead," Tyler said, putting his head in his hands. "First Katherine takes my brother and now, my best friend…"

Jeremy was relieved that he didn't blame Caroline, because then he would see him wolf out and start attacking right in the house.

"What is her endgame…" Tyler said miserably, still shaking.

"I don't know," Jeremy said. "But…." he paused as he heard the front door opening and closing again: Stefan and Caroline leaving the house.

"But, I think we should get out of the house before you feel the need to change or anything. Walk it out," Jeremy suggested, wanting to get out of the house himself.

"Yeah…sounds like a plan," Tyler said shakily. "I just can't…I hate her, Jeremy. I wish she was ripped apart and dead and…." He said, balling his hands into fists.

"That's your clue to get walking. Move," Jeremy said, pointing him toward the door. "I want to go the way Elena went anyway just to keep an eye out on her now that she's on her own."

Tyler nodded and hurriedly went down the stairs. They both picked up pace as they went outside and before Jeremy knew it, he was jogging next to Tyler.

"I wasn't really planning on running," Jeremy said, trying to keep pace with Tyler. He wasn't exactly out of shape, but he was no extreme athlete.

"Would you prefer for me to attack you?" Tyler said with a humorless laugh.

"Keep running," Jeremy said with a smile.

"I wonder why she would take out the sheriff, too. She was never a threat," Jeremy though aloud after a bit.

"I think she just wants to do as much damage to this town as she can. In this case, it sounds like she was going after Caroline personally; killing her mom and having Caroline kill her boyfriend," Tyler said, shaking his head. "It doesn't make sense…"

By that point, they were nearing the cemetery gates.

"You think she went here?" Tyler said in confusion, slowing his pace down.

"Yeah…she used to go here sometimes after school or even during the summer. She found some sort of peace sitting near my parents grave…I think she just needed to let it out and with her heading in this direction, it's the only thing I could think of," Jeremy said, walking past the gates and heading toward the familiar lot.

They were getting close when the suddenly heard a scream.

"Was that Jenna?" Jeremy said in alarm. He immediately picked up his pace and started sprinting toward the sound.

The both drew up short and stopped when they saw the scene in front of them.

"What the hell!" Jeremy said in confusion. Tyler shook his head in surprise too, looking on as John was fighting with Katherine while Elena was held by some man.

"He looks familiar, but who is he?" Tyler asked Jeremy.

"No clue…we should help," Jeremy said, moving as to go forward, but Tyler threw out his hand.

"We'd be going in unarmed. We need to think of a plan," he said, but his words were cut short as Elena screamed out as Klaus bit her. Seconds later they saw Jenna jumping on Katherine.

"We have to go now," Jeremy said, looking around for something sharp. "Tyler find something…"

Jeremy didn't need to finish his sentence as he saw Tyler wolf out, his steely gaze aimed straight at Katherine—the look said death was on its way.

Before Jeremy could say another word, Tyler shot through the clearing, howling and growling with the lust to kill.

"Shit," Jeremy muttered, looking around for something he could use and praying they weren't too late. As he was looking, he thought of something; back up.

Still looking, he grabbed his phone and dialed Damon's number, praying he'd pick up.

"What," Damon answered, sounding angry.

"Get to the cemetery, now," Jeremy yelled out. "It's Katherine and Klaus versus John, Tyler, Jenna, and Elena, and the last two are out for the count," Jeremy said worriedly.

"God damn it," Damon mumbled and he hung up.

Throwing the phone in his pocket, Jeremy found a sharp piece of broken fence and sprinted as fast as he could toward the clearing, hearing Tyler's growling loud and clear.

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait. What are you doing!" Stefan yelled out as they kept their guns trained on them.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to step away from her right now," one officer said angrily, cocking his gun.

"What are you doing? Tim, Chris. It's me," Caroline said, trying to keep the hysteria out of her voice. She figured out too late that they have her something with vervain in it for her to hold, hence why her skin burned.

"You're not Caroline anymore," Tim said stonily. "You're a vampire."

"You guys are crazy. I'm not a vampire," Caroline said, trying to use compulsion.

"There's no such thing. Put your guns down," Stefan said, trying to gauge the situation. He could only guess that since they knew about vampires, they were probably carrying their own vervain, if not ingesting it daily.

"Leave," Tim said, aiming his gun at Stefan, "this doesn't concern you."

"You are seriously out of your freaking heads," Caroline began, but she didn't get a chance to finish before she heard them cock their guns, preparing to fire.

"Run," Stefan murmured to her before he took a chance and raced behind them, taking them off guard.

Taking them by surprise, Tim fired blindly, missing Caroline by a wide shot. The other officer was aiming for Stefan, but he was thrown off as Stefan grabbed the gun from his hand and threw it far away. In seconds, Stefan put him in a sleeper hold, dropping his body to the floor.

Caroline arrived shortly after, trying to get around Tim.

"Just put the gun away and no one gets hurt," Caroline said shakily.

But Tim didn't listen. Instead he attempted to shoot her. "I'm sorry, Caroline," he said, pulling the trigger.

She easily dodged it. He was about to try again when Stefan came around and took the gun out of his hand, knocking him to the ground.

"So I guess my mom told them about me," she said breathlessly as she looked at the bodies on the ground.

"The real question is who else knows," Stefan said in deep concern.

Seeing that Tim was still conscious, he grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up. "Who else knows about Caroline?" he asked angrily

"Go to hell," Tim spat.

Stefan punched him in the face, eliciting a groan.

"Stefan!" Caroline yelled out.

"Who else knows? So help me I will kill you if you don't talk," he repeated, his eyes turning black and the veins showing prominently on his face.

Caroline looked on in horror, scared of what Stefan would actually do.

"No one, ok," he said with a struggle. "Sheriff Forbes called up my number and said that her daughter was turned and that she needed help taking care of the body. Chris was with me so we rushed to her house. But when we got there, it was only her body and some boys. Not Caroline. Me and Chris were keeping it between ourselves…I swear," he said, struggling in Stefan's grasp.

Stefan closed his eyes and nodded his head. "I believe you," he said. Seconds later, he opened his eyes, looking wide and hungry, and sunk his fangs into his neck.

"Oh my god, Stefan! No, stop!" Caroline said in surprise. She had to close her eyes and try to compose herself as she smelled the blood.

"We can't let them go, Caroline. They know too much….Take him out too," Stefan said with a crazy nod to Chris. "It's either them or us. Kill or be killed."

Caroline shook her head in horror of what was happening and in disgust in herself that she felt the bloodlust and need to kill. But she closed her eyes and thought about it. If they were let go, the rest of the police would be involved and then she, Stefan, and Damon would have to be on the run. The cops would put up a good fight, but it would ultimately lead to more deaths.

Taking a shaking breath, Caroline kneeled next to Chris, smelling the blood plumping through his body.

"I'm so sorry," she said with tears in her eyes before she retracted her fangs and sunk them into his neck.

**Look at me getting to a normal update schedule, haha! YAY! Team Keeta for the win, haha! That show that comes on after Vampire Diaries? Totally stole my name, haha. Anyways, hope you like the action. Some Delena coming up for you so you should be happy! Review and enjoy. Title is by Metallica because I figured for all the blood/fighting, we need some heavy metal, haha. Cheers.**


	19. This too shall pass

**Can I just say….that this chapter is dedicated to my loyal readers. Your patience will soon be rewarded….Alright onto the chapter!

* * *

**Elena turned her head to see a werewolf baring down on Klaus and Katherine, circling around to try to make a clear lunge for Katherine.

"I see the wolf has come out to play, too," Klaus said with a smirk.

John took the opportunity to catch his breath as Katherine and Klaus gave Tyler their full attention.

"Very stupid of you, really. Did you forget already how I ripped your brother's head off in seconds? This will be too easy," Katherine said with a glint of passion in her eyes.

Tyler growled in response, trying to lunge at Katherine, but she dodged out of the way quickly.

Elena swallowed and closed her eyes. She was a little dizzy and drained, but nothing life threatening. She was going to get up in a minute to help, but she wanted to get her bearings first. She only hoped that if Katherine even came close to killing Tyler, she would be brought down in the same way trying to kill Jenna had.

Seconds later, she heard footfalls and turned her head to see Jeremy coming into the clearing. Taking a deep breath, Elena sat up and waved her arms at Jeremy, motioning him to run away.

She turned her head in the other direction as she heard more growling and Klaus cursing.

"You're a fast little bugger aren't you," he said angrily as Tyler growled with a bloodied muzzle.

Soon, John joined the fray, going for Klaus while he was distracted.

"Elena, are you ok?" Jeremy said, finally reaching her and looking around at the fight.

"I'm fine, Jeremy. What are you doing here? Get out of here. Grab Jenna and run," Elena said, standing up.

She grabbed Jeremy to steady herself as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Jeremy looked at her in concern, but she brushed it off.

"I'm fine. I'm kinda used to the whole getting bit thing….It's crazy. We need to get out of here now!" she said.

"Elena, we have a chance to take Katherine down. We can do it," Jeremy said fiercely.

"Jeremy, it's just me, you, John and a werewolf against two very old vampires. What good can we….wait," Elena said, a thought coming to her mind. "John had a crossbow or something. He lost in the woods over there because Klaus grabbed him…if we get that, we might have a chance to at least get away."

"I'll find it," Jeremy said in determination. Without a second glance, he rushed off into the woods.

"Jeremy," Elena yelled out, but he was already on his way.

She looked back to the fight and was horrified to see John covered in blood; his neck torn and a bone sticking out harshly from his arm.

"I'm older than you, boy," Klaus taunted, showing no signs of harm other than a bloody lip and the bite from Tyler.

Her eyes traveled to Jenna and she saw in relief that she was still passed out by the tree—breathing, but passed out. Her attention from Jenna was taken, however, as she heard a loud yelping sound. Katherine had Tyler by the leg and had yanked on it hard until Elena was sure she popped it out of its socket. She wanted badly to help, but she didn't know what to do. She was debating throwing a rock at Katherine when she heard John yell out.

Klaus was gripping John's broken arm fiercely in his hand and looked like he was about to aim a killing blow to his chest.

"NO," Elena screamed, starting to run toward Klaus and hoping to distract him like Jenna had, but it was unnecessary. She soon heard the air whistle and saw an arrow come zooming by to land in Klaus's shoulder.

He dropped John quickly, cursing and growling, looking around for the attacker.

"Elena, get out of here," John growled, trying to regroup himself to attack again. "Please," he said with pleading eyes.

"I'm not leaving," she said with determination.

"You're always so stubborn, Elena," came a voice from behind her.

She almost wanted to laugh out in relief as she heard Damon come into view.

* * *

Damon surveyed the scene and was surprised to see that Tyler and John weren't dead yet. When Jeremy called it sounded like a sure bet they wouldn't make it. He was just glad he was so close to town to get here in time.

"Now kiddies, can't we settle this without violence," Damon said in a raised voice, getting the attention of Klaus and Katherine.

"Well, now things will get interesting," Klaus said, looking like Christmas had come early.

"Katherine, fur doesn't really suit you. Besides, it might have rabies," Damon said with a nod to Tyler.

Katherine hissed and jumped back as Tyler leaped out of her grasp.

Damon looked ready to attack when Katherine held out her hand. "Enough," she said, sounding breathless.

"I didn't come here for a bloodbath…not when I'm so close to getting what I want," she said, her eyes gleaming with a crazy light. "I'm leaving," she hissed.

And without another glance back, she took off as fast as she could in the other direction.

Klaus looked at her fleeing figure in surprise and disgust. "She would leave now, wouldn't she? Wouldn't want to damage one of her precious boys," he said with disdain.

"That's fine. That means I can devote all my time to killing you first," Damon said with raised brows.

At that point, John had gotten up and positioned himself next to Damon as if to give him backup. Soon Tyler did the same, limping over to John's side to growl at Klaus.

Elena's heart pounded painfully in her chest. Part of her hoped that Klaus would just run away and everyone would be safe. But the other part actually hoped that they could actually bring him down. She nervously glanced in the woods to see if she could catch a sign of Jeremy, but gratefully she saw nothing. She hoped that he was staying hidden and would only attack when he wouldn't be noticed.

"I would love to rip you all to pieces," Klaus said with a smile. "But If I kill you Mr. Salvatore, I'm afraid I wouldn't get as much satisfaction because Katherine wouldn't be around to see it….So I bid you goodnight, and hope to kill you at a time that's much more pleasurable for me."

Laughing, he bowed his head and took off the same way Katherine had.

"See, if I would have been here from the start things could have gone so much better," Damon said, shaking his head. "And you are all going to have to explain to me later what the hell you were even doing out here, and if you say a séance, I'm seriously going to have to kill you."

Elena took the opportunity to run over and check on Jenna. When she reached her, Jenna was already coming too, rubbing her head and looking around in alarm.

"What happened?" she muttered.

"They're gone," Elena said in relief.

"Yeah, let's make sure they're not circling around to come at us again," Damon said. "I doubt it, but who knows, they…" he paused as he heard movement from the woods.

"Just me," Jeremy said, coming out with a crossbow.

"Great job, Jer," Elena said with a smile.

"You didn't get killed, that's an upgrade in my book," Damon commented.

Once he saw everyone was alive and well, he went over to Elena and looked her over, letting out a sigh.

"Elena, remember that neon sign on your back with an all you can eat sign? It's gone nuclear and now says open 24-7," Damon said with a chuckle, gingerly checking on Elena's neck.

"I figured something like that happened," she murmured with a grim smile. "Let's get out of here."

"Couldn't agree with you more," Damon said, letting his hands linger on her shoulders a little longer before he stepped away. "Let's get John to the boarding house and get him some blood before he notices you, Jenna, or Jeremy as potential meals."

Minutes later they were all piled up in Jenna's car. Tyler had changed back and limped to the back seat, but not before Jenna tossed him her jacket to throw over his body. They were soon at Elena's house where they let out Jeremy, Jenna , and Tyler.

"I'm going with Damon and John," she told Jeremy. "Are you going to be alright here?"

"Yeah…be safe," he said before he turned around and headed into the house.

* * *

"Could I help him in any way?" Elena asked Damon as he got John settled into the guest room with a few bags full of blood.

"Not unless you want to take the place of the blood bag," he said, closing the door just as John hungrily snatched up one of the bags. "He'll heal up, he just needs to drink and rest."

"Ok," Elena said tiredly. She looked down at herself and sighed. "Damon, could I borrow a t-shirt? I need to get out of this bloody shirt."

"You know, with your current trend of bleeding, you should store some extra clothes here," he joked, leading her into his room, closing the door behind him.

She rolled her eyes and followed him. "Apparently."

Damon disappeared into the bathroom for a minute before coming out with a few towels and a package of bandages. Elena raised her eyes at him in surprise.

"If you're going to borrow one of my shirts, I'd prefer it wasn't bloodied up," he said sarcastically. "Now take off your shirt and let me bandage you up."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest and thought it over. "I bet you say that to all the girls," she said sarcastically.

Damon rolled his eyes and laughed. "You know me so well. Look, I'm not gonna bite…yet," he said, wagging his brows. "And I'm not trying for any funny business. I'm going to wrap it up and get you a shirt."

Sighing, Elena plopped down on Damon's bed and took off her shirt, wincing as it passed over the wound. She felt awkward sitting there in her bra with Damon so close, but he was true to his word as he gingerly cleaned her neck with the wet cloth, patted it dry, and slowly wrapped some gauze around it.

She watched him as he gently did the job, careful not to bang her around and cause her discomfort. She smiled, enjoying the gentle touch and kindness she saw in his gaze.

"There, now you'll be the talk of the town with a tres-chic neck bandage," Damon said with a smile, giving her shoulder a small pat.

"Thanks, Damon," Elena said with sincerity, looking him deep in the eyes.

"Anytime, Elena," Damon said, not moving away from her.

She put her arms out for a hug and drew Damon in, letting his scent wash over her. She found comfort in his grasp. She thought about everything that had happened, the cemetery, Matt, Stefan, and Caroline and nestled her head in his chest.

"Today was horrible," she whispered, holding back tears. "Matt's dead because of Caroline, Stefan's back on blood and is so on edge that I can't even trust him anymore," she said, thinking of Katherine's accusation that he could have killed the sheriff. "It's his fault Caroline was even on the loose…And John, Jenna, and Jeremy could have gotten killed tonight, not to mention Tyler was almost ripped apart…..I just wish all the bad stuff would go away."

"It will, Elena," Damon murmured, holding her close. "I can't promise when, but we'll end it. Katherine will not get away with any of this. I swear. You'll be safe again."

Elena pulled back to look at him and saw a fierce honesty in his face and she smiled. "I feel safe now," she murmured, leaning into him and within seconds, her lips were pressed against his and she met no resistance.

He kissed back, hungrily taking her lips in his own. His hands brushed through her hair as he grasped her face and pressed against her eagerly. He felt her hands against his chest before she wrapped them around his back, bringing him in closer.

Gaining his composure, he soon pulled away and looked at her.

"Elena…are you testing me again?" he said in surprise, breathing hard at the intensity of their kissing.

In response, Elena brought her lips back down on his for a slow kiss, her tongue darting out to meet his. "No test, Damon," she whispered, kissing him again.

"You're just acting like this because you're upset," Damon said, pulling away, this time far enough so that Elena couldn't reach him. "I don't want you to do this and feel guilty about it….be mad at me or guilty for yourself for succumbing to a moment of weakness because you lost someone and you're pissy with your boyfriend."

Hating himself at the moment, Damon closed his eyes and when he opened them, he looked angrily at Elena.

"You need to leave," he said, pointing to the door. "Now."

**Ooh, things got a bit hot and heavy, huh? Haha! I hope I made Delena fans uber uber happy. I'm kinda on the fence on how to take it the next chapter….should they….shouldn't they? I just hope you didn't think it was too rushed or stupid. Should this be a dream? A major disaster? HMMM. I guess you'll have to see where I decide where to go from here. Review and enjoy. Title is by OK GO. Cheers.**


	20. Be Be Your Love

Elena looked at Damon in surprise. While she hadn't expected to start making out with him like that, she felt a certain rightness to it. She had long been under the impression that her feelings for Damon were purely ones of friendship, but lately that had changed.

He had been there when she needed help the most. He wasn't secretive or over-bearing like Stefan. Instead, he let her have her way even if it was a bit dangerous. He let her make her own decisions and backed her up. He showed her how to have fun even when the world wanted to cave in on her. When she was broken, he helped her pick up the pieces.

She loved him.

Even if Stefan hadn't messed up, she knew deep down she was slowly approaching this conclusion. This revelation had her gasping out in surprise and she closed her eyes taking it in.

"Elena?" Damon asked, coming back over to check on her, thinking something was wrong.

He lifted her head in his hands to look at her and she opened her eyes.

"I love you, Damon," she finally said, looking into his eyes and seeing the surprise in them.

"What?" he said, not believing what she was saying.

"You were right…all those nights ago when you told me that there was something there…that I just didn't see it…I see it now," she said, grabbing his head in her hands. "I think I just tried to fight it because I was with Stefan…but I can see all the flaws and why it would never work with us."

"But you…I can't imagine not having you….I can't imagine losing you," she shivered. "I love you. I've never been so sure of something in my life."

Damon stared at her in a loss for words. He'd been longing to hear her say that for such a long time that he could barely believe what she was saying. But as he looked at her, he could tell she wasn't lying. She wasn't playing games with him like Katherine had with his heart. She trusted him, hell…she loved him.

"You're not just telling me this to get in my pants are you?" he said, suggestively, not wanting to fall for it only to get hurt in the end.

Elena laughed and a tear fell from her eye. "No," she said. "But the question now, is, do you love me too?"

"Now if that wasn't the question of the century," Damon said with a sigh. "If you haven't noticed that I did yet, I would have to say you are as dense as a blonde."

"I love you, Elena," Damon said, more seriously, stroking her hair. "I know I've never exactly been the ideal person or even deserving of you. Hell, I knew Stefan was a more reliable choice for you and I tried to be unselfish. "And it was hard," Damon said with a pause. "It was hard thinking every time Stefan held you, it should have been my arms around you, my lips on yours….I always wanted you, and I was fooling myself to think anyone like Katherine could change my mind. "

"My only regret in loving you, Elena, is that I didn't find you sooner," Damon said wistfully. "So yes, I love you and the fact that you love me back in spite of my flaws, is more than I could hope for."

Elena could only stare at him after his heartfelt confession. She never knew Damon capable of such affection; of such open honesty. He bared his soul to her and she found in breathtaking.

Speechless, she smiled warmly at him and brought him in for a kiss. She grabbed him in, rolling him onto the bed with her for a better angle. Soon he was on top of her, trailing kisses down her neck and down to her stomach. A few moments later, Elena reached down to undo the button on his pants, but stopped herself.

Damon looked up at her questioningly. "Are you teasing me Elena Gilbert?"

But she smiled and shook her head. "Maybe a little," she said. "But I think before we take this any further, I have to officially end it with Stefan."

"Oh why'd you have to bring him up and bust up the mood, Elena," Damon said, rolling so that he was on his side to look at Elena face to face.

"Because even I know that if I don't tell him, you'd feel guilty like me, too. It would be like me cheating on him. I want us free and clear before we go any further," she said, reaching out and giving him another kiss.

"You're just afraid that my awesome abilities in bed will make you never want to leave," Damon said, wagging his brows at her.

"That too," she said sarcastically with a laugh. "But we can still do this," she said happily, snuggling closer to him and closing her eyes, reveling in his scents and comfort.

* * *

"So what do you think will happen next?" Caroline asked Stefan as they neared the boarding house. At this point the sun was about to rise and they had to book it.

"Nothing. They will eventually find the bodies in the woods, declare it an animal attack, and we'll be safe," Stefan said, brushing his hand through his hair.

After they had taken care of the cops, they deposited their bodies in the woods and covered up any evidence on the way.

"I just feel terrible….What are we going to tell everyone?" Caroline asked, pausing at the door.

"Nothing," Stefan said firmly. "They don't need to know about it. For now, we've just been to the hospital to answer questions and we're back now."

Caroline shook her head and walked in. "I just hate keeping secrets," she whispered once they were safely inside.

"Sometimes it's better that way. People won't get hurt or jump to false conclusions about why you did what was necessary," he said cryptically, thinking of Sheriff Forbes. "Come on, I'll show you to a spare room so you can rest."

Caroline nodded her head gratefully and followed Stefan up the stairs. He opened the door to the guest room and was surprised to see John lying in the bed. The floor was littered with empty blood packets and bloodied clothes. John himself looked dead to the world, lying on top of the comforter.

"What the hell happened to him?" Caroline whispered as they closed the door.

Stefan shook his head. "I have no clue, but it can't be good. I wonder if Damon knows," he said, staring at Damon's closed door.

"You can take that room down there, then. I'm going to see if Damon's up," Stefan said, pointing down the hall.

"Thanks, Stefan," Caroline said wearily as she trudged to the room, grateful the curtains were drawn.

Stefan paused outside of Damon's door to first hear if there were any sounds inside. He was surprised to hear the sounds of two people breathing; one of them accompanied by a heartbeat.

In surprise, Stefan opened the door to a scene similar to the one he walked into when Elena had gone out drinking with Damon. Only this time, Elena had no shirt on and was sprawled across Damon's chest.

He felt the rage boil in his veins as he looked at the scene. This time felt different. It wasn't because she was shirtless. He could see that it was because she had to be bandaged. It was because of how comfortable she looked in his arms; like she hadn't simply fallen asleep or passed out, but placed herself on him in some sort of embrace.

He clenched his fists and sighed, about to turn around when suddenly Elena shot up, looking like she had a bad dream. When she looked around, her gaze met Stefan's and she blanched.

"Stefan?" she said in confusion. Then looking at Damon, she scooted off the bed so as to not wake him and walked to the door, shutting it to talk with Stefan in the hallway.

"Do you want to explain yourself?" Stefan said angrily.

"Do you?" Elena shot back, walking down the hall to Stefan's room. She didn't want to get into it right outside Damon's door.

When they were both inside, Stefan shut the door and glared at her. "I already explained to you what happened and you took off…and obviously right into Damon's arms."

Elena shot him a disgusted look and crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly self-conscious she was still half-dressed. "Oh so that's what you think? Oh poor Elena can't take the fact her best friend killed Matt and her boyfriend is so misunderstanding, so she runs off and go screws Damon. Don't be so full of yourself, Stefan."

"You could have handled telling me what happened better," she said quietly. "Instead of starting off trying to cover it up like you were guilty about what happened or that you didn't want to make me angry, you should have just laid out the fact that Matt was dead," she said, her throat constricting as that thought hit home again.

"I wasn't guilty about it, Elena," Stefan said impatiently. "I just wanted you to know first that it was an accident so you wouldn't get the wrong idea; so you wouldn't judge anyone before you knew what happened first."

Elena stared at him, debating whether to ask the burning question that was on her mind. "Is there anything I should be judging you about right now?"

Stefan looked at her in confusion.

"I'll make this easy on you. Did you kill Sheriff Forbes?" Elena asked, surprised at herself for getting the words out. "Was it some accident….some mistake that happened that you decided to cover up so people don't quote 'judge you?' Because I just want the truth."

Stefan's face was neutral as he answered. "Elena, I didn't kill Sheriff Forbes. I already told you that Katherine had killed…."

"She couldn't have killed her without killing herself. I saw for myself what would happen if she even came close to killing someone," Elena interrupted with an accusatory stare.

"You honestly think I killed her?" Stefan said, sounding incredulous.

"I don't know what to believe from you right now, Stefan," Elena said, shaking her head and sitting down. "For days now you've been different. You've been moody, edgy, and just distant. I don't know if you can even be honest with yourself yet alone me."

Stefan closed his eyes and hung his head. "I know this new blood diet makes me edgy. I promise once Katherine is dealt with I'm going back…but that doesn't excuse your reaction, Elena. Why were you in bed with Damon? "

"Why wouldn't she be?" Damon said, coming into the room with a smile on his face.

* * *

"We almost had her," Tyler grumbled angrily, pacing Jeremy's living room.

"I don't know if you noticed what with her almost tearing you apart, but we weren't exactly on the winning team," Jeremy replied as he took off his shoes. "If she hadn't decided to bolt, we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"It just sucks knowing we could have had a shot and now tonight, I can't even do anything about it because I have to be locked up…the one night where we might have a chance to take her down," Tyler said with a sigh.

Jeremy sat down on the couch and looked at him closely. "I was going to ask you about that…where exactly can we hold you? I don't suppose you have a big steel box to throw yourself in do you?"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Chloe was supposed to help me with that. I don't really know where. She mentioned some place on the property, like some underground quarters built back in the day when the Lockwood mansion was home to slaves or something. I think there are holding cells."

"Well we should probably check that out sooner rather than later," Jeremy said thinking. "I think Stefan mentioned something about maybe having you locked up at their place in one of the cells. I can call him and ask."

"Maybe," Tyler said distantly. "How about we hold off on that for a few hours, though. If I don't get some sleep I'm going to be dead on my feet."

"Same here," Jeremy said with a sigh and plopping down on the couch. "I'm gonna just pass out here so I can keep an ear out for Elena. You can take my room or the guest room upstairs if you want. I'll wake you when I get up."

"Alright…thanks, man," Tyler said with a slight nod.

Jeremy was starting to nod off when he heard a knock at the door. He groaned in frustration and got up to answer. He was half way to the door when Jenna came trotting down the stairs.

"It's Rick," she said in explanation to Jeremy's confused stare. "I called him over…we have a lot to talk about."

Jeremy raised his brows but didn't comment. Instead he trudged back to the living room and passed out on the couch.

When Jenna answered the door, she was surprised to see not only Rick, but some other man on the porch with him. She looked between the two of them and then focused back on Rick.

"I didn't know you were bringing anyone with you when I called," she said in confusion.

"Sorry. Jenna, this is James, James, Jenna," Rick said with a nod.

"Nice to meet you," Jenna said, shaking his hand. "Not to be rude or anything, but I really needed to talk to Rick about some important…personal things," she said pointedly.

James nodded in understanding. "Well if it's anything about your wolf or vampire problem, maybe you might not mind having me here to help in the conversation. May we come in?"

Jenna was taken aback and looked at Rick in surprise, but stepped back to let them inside.

"Yeah, he's kind of a friend who's also a witch and can help us," Rick said awkwardly. "And I know it's all really crazy and…"

But he was cut off as Jenna slapped him across the face.

"What was that for?" Rick asked as James let out a small chuckle.

"For keeping me in the dark about all of this the whole time," Jenna said impatiently. "Now get in the kitchen. I have coffee and quite a story to tell you myself. "

"She's a keeper," James said with a smile to Rick as the headed for the kitchen.

**Hope you didn't think the Delena was too mushy and that you liked it regardless! I had this chapter written out before I even had the last chapter up, so I was only teasing when I said I didn't know what I was going to do. Of course it was about time they got together, haha. Anyways, enjoy and review. Title is by Rachael Yamagata for Delena. Cheers.**


	21. I Want to Know Your Plans

Elena was startled by Damon's silent and sudden appearance in Stefan's room. She thought that they had been quiet by leaving the hallway.

"Stefan, don't jump to any wrong conclusions here," Elena began, but Stefan cut her off.

"What? Unlike you with the sheriff?" Stefan countered.

"Why so defensive, Stefan?" Damon said, his brows rising. He shot a glance to Elena before looking back to Stefan.

"I don't need to stand here and explain anything to either of you," Stefan yelled out, getting in Damon's face. "What I want is an explanation of what happened with Damon, Elena," he said, turning from Damon and walking to Elena. "And I want the truth. It's tiring enough to have to think of Damon going after you than to think of you possibly going after him."

"I'd say murdering someone takes a bit more precedence over a harmless spooning session in my bed, Stef," Damon said with narrowed eyes.

Stefan took the opportunity to lunge at Damon, but Damon quickly sidestepped him. Stefan looked like he was going to go at it again, but Elena stepped between them.

"Enough," she said forcefully. "This is not the time to fight with your brother."

"Oh when would be the ideal time? I'd love to hear of one, Elena," Stefan said sarcastically.

"Stop being a dick," Damon said, shaking his head. "She's right. We're on the same side here, little brother. We're fighting against the baddies. We can't think of you as heading to the dark side right now. So what's the harm in asking the simple question without you wanting to throw punches?"

Stefan glared at him and looked to Elena, who placed a hand gently on his arm. "I just want to hear from you what happened whether you were involved or not… I'll answer your question first."

Damon looked at her in surprise. He didn't know if she was really going to tell him yet and it surprised him. But if he knew anything it was that now was probably not the best time to tell Stefan that he was being dumped.

"Elena, I already answered that question for him, but I guess the answer of spooning won't suffice... I bandaged up your bleeding neck and you happened to pass out," Damon said with a pointed look at her. "You were in my bed and I was not sleeping on that couch downstairs. So I will admit I took advantage of the situation and cuddled up with you while you were asleep."

Stefan peered at him, trying to gauge whether he was lying or not and then looked over at Elena. She on the other hand looked a bit confused, but then she shook her head and sat on Stefan's bed.

"Why were you bleeding anyway?" Stefan asked, still deciding if it was as innocent as Damon was implying.

"That's a really long story that can wait until you tell us what happened at Caroline's," Elena said quietly.

Stefan took a deep breath. "After I left your house, I headed to Caroline's. I was going to check on her and then run by Bonnie's to ask her a question. But as soon as I got to Caroline's I knew something was really wrong."

Elena stared at him anxiously, her stomach in knots. Part of her didn't really want to hear about anything that happened there since Matt was killed. But she needed the truth.

"I smelled the blood from the doorway and called out. Soon the sheriff came to the door and she eventually invited me inside. When I walked in the doorway, I saw both Matt and Caroline unconscious on the floor," Stefan said in a flat voice. "Matt was already dead by that point. The sheriff must have walked in on Caroline and was able to subdue her with vervain. She was going to kill her with wooden bullets. I barely had time to react so I threw myself in front of Caroline so she wouldn't die."

"How heroic of you," Damon said sarcastically. "You couldn't just quickly knock the gun out of your hands with your new super charged breakfast of champions diet?"

"I was still trying to prevent her from thinking I was a vampire," Stefan said testily. "I was hoping I could dissuade her and feign the injury, but unfortunately the bullet was laced in vervain as well and she figured out that I wasn't human."

"What did she do when she figured it out," Elena asked, her voice almost a whisper.

Stefan paused, but he knew he was already this far in the back down now. "I….I killed her before she could kill me. But…."

Before the next words were out of his mouth, his door was open with a slam and someone flew into the room and rammed right into him.

* * *

"No offense, but that was a dumb plan," James said as he sat in the kitchen across from Rick and Jenna. "Thinking you could just stake her right then and there without consequence."

Rick glared at him and was about to say something when Jenna spoke up.

"I'm not denying now that it was really, really stupid, even with John as back up, but I couldn't take it knowing that she was out there and she was responsible for my sister's death," Jenna said somberly. "I'm only grateful no one was killed."

"It would have been a good plan if everyone was in on it….but even so, Klaus was around so it wouldn't have mattered either way," Rick said quickly as he got a dirty look from Jenna.

"Alright so I told you my story and you told me your little history. So why are you here?" Jenna said to James, getting down to business.

"I was kinda wondering the same thing since he said he wouldn't get involved in the affairs of vampires," Rick said with a pointed look at him.

"Since Saltzman here got in way over his head," he replied with an easy smile. "And I didn't say I was necessarily going to get involved. I'm just going to make sure that you don't get yourself killed. That and make sure the witch of yours doesn't mess up royally."

"And what does that mean?" Rick asked.

"I mean that if your witch messes up, she could bring something pretty evil back or she could die from the sheer force of the spell. I guess I'm helping a fellow witch out," he said with a shrug.

"What's Bonnie supposed to be doing exactly?" Jenna asked in confusion.

Rick and James exchanged glances, but Rick shook his head. "It's a long story, but short version: she's raising her dead relative for Katherine and if she doesn't fulfill the promise, she dies."

"And when is said rising supposed to take place?" Jenna said anxiously, shivering as the images of a zombie came flooding into her mind.

"Tonight," James replied almost cheerfully. "When the full moon arises; it's a powerful time."

"Crap," Jenna said, slumping in her seat. "Please say Elena and Jeremy weren't planning on being anywhere around there."

"Never mind," Jenna said, noticing Rick's hesitance. "I know I can't stop them from going, but it doesn't mean I won't be there too."

"Jenna, what do you expect to do?" Rick said in consternation.

"Whatever Elena and Jeremy think they are going to accomplish…whatever you're going to accomplish," she said testily. "Whether it's taking that bitch down or supporting Bonnie, or whatever. I want to make sure my family is safe. My sister left me that job and I plan on seeing it through."

"What is the plan anyway?" James asked, interrupting Jenna and Rick's staring session.

"Bonnie does the spell. Once her contract is up, we attack. Bonnie can hopefully do the mind thing on Katherine to distract her, maybe even Klaus," Rick speculated. "Stefan suggested that Bonnie could possibly enable the Gilbert device to work again, but omitting certain vampires out."

"What's the Gilbert device?" Jenna and James asked at the same time.

"It sends this high pitch only they can hear and basically incapacitates them with pain for around 5 minutes or so," Rick explained

"So it's a dog whistle, but for vamps," James said, nodding his head.

"Yeah, but it's probably not going to be of use because she would have to specify which vampires not to affect, and if anything is messed up, the wrong side could end up on the ground," Rick said, dismissively.

"Which leads to you guys hiding in the woods with what? Stakes and vervain? You hoping to take her and the zombie out and call it a day?" James asked. "Not to mention the line of wolfsbane you'll need to have out for when the werewolves come out to play."

"Why would we be worried about that?" Jenna asked Rick. "I thought Tyler was the only problem…"

"About that…"Rick said with a sigh.

"I hate this town," Jenna said, chugging the last of her coffee.

* * *

"Were you born an asshole?" Katherine muttered to Klaus as she glared at him angrily.

"No. Like any talent, it took practice, love," he replied with a grin.

They were both sitting in the remains of Fell's church. After the fight, Klaus tracked Katherine down instantly and persuaded her to join him for a little talk.

"You know, one of these century's you are going to get bored with me….maybe you should find someone else to torture with your company," she complained as she paced around the floor.

He merely let out a small laugh and watched her closely, sensing her impatience.

She was itching to leave, but he was proving to be difficult to evade. By now he knew something was up tonight and wasn't going to let her go until he knew her plans. For now, she would let him play with her a bit before she made a run for it.

"If you have nothing important to say, I'm leaving. I already explained to you I was bored at the cemetery…not to mention I have some work to be getting to," she said eyeing the door.

"And what work would that be?" he asked with a wicked gleam in his eye.

"It's my business. When it's yours, I'll let you know," she said scathingly.

A second later, Klaus was in her face looking at her with glowing eyes. "I made it my business a long time ago to know what you are up to, Katherine. I'm always going to be around, like the conscience you never had. So why not fess up, it'll be less painful," he said, stroking her cheek.

She slapped his hand away and moved back in defiance. "Someday you're going to be sorry for what you've done."

"What I've done," he said with a laugh. "I wasn't the one to start the problem in the first place…Do I need to go over your little family history all over again?"

She snarled at him and this time pushed him back angrily. "That was centuries ago, eons, Klaus. Why do you insist I pay for something my great great nobodies did? What kind of pleasure can you possibly find in it anymore?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes, searching hers in the process. "Oh you'd be surprised at how pleasurable it is…Now what is up your sleeve for tonight?"

Katherine let out a disgusted sigh and began her pacing again. "If I tell you can I leave?"

"You're going to tell me either way," he said smugly, taking a seat on one of the decrepit pews.

"I captured a werewolf and tonight happens to be a full moon," Katherine said impatiently. "I plan to release her in all her glory onto the unsuspecting citizens of Mystic Falls."

"Making a wolf pack is your idea of fun?" Klaus said, rolling his eyes. "Please. Why would you bother with that?"

"I want some unsavory characters to suffer. What better than for their town to falter…its people murdered and families torn apart, maybe even literally," Katherine said wistfully.

"And you're not worried about them coming after you? They are pretty deadly on full moons, Katherine….but you know that," he said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were looking to make a little wolf army…against me."

Katherine turned around, making sure her face was composed. "I'd have to turn more than this little town to take you down, Klaus. But if you're so scared of a few wolves, you can leave."

"I never leave a party when it's just begun. In fact, when that moon decided to peek it's little head, I'll be so close by it will be like I'm actually there," he said with a wink.

"See you tonight, love," he said wickedly as he left her alone in the church.

"I'm counting on it," she said under her breath.

Before she decided to leave, she made a quick sweep of the place, her eyes resting on a little alcove not too far from where the altar would be.

She nodded her head in approval and smiled. "It ends tonight, Klaus."

**Sorry I took so long to update. I guess I jinxed myself by being on a roll with the other chapters. In all honesty, it was easy to write those because it was Delena centric, haha. But we are moving right along to where we need to be. Review and enjoy. Title is by Say Anything. Cheers.**


	22. The World Ain't Right

"I TRUSTED YOU," Caroline screeched at Stefan as she clawed at his face and arms. "How could you…"

Stefan was too surprised to react, so instead just let her hit him.

"Damon, get her off him," Elena pleaded while he held back laughter at the scene enfolding.

"All right, blondie, that's enough," Damon said, picking Caroline off of him with ease. "What were you doing listening in on this little convo anyway?"

"He killed my mom," she shrieked, still fighting to attack him and ignoring Damon's question.

"I'm not condoning what he did, but he saved your life," Elena replied. "He took a bullet for you because your mom was going to kill you on the spot."

"So what? That gives him the right to murder her! Why just jump to the whole let's kill her thing?" Caroline said, shrugging Damon off and staring angrily at Stefan as he stood up. "What you can't deal with people anymore so you just kill them when it's convenient for you? Like those cops today?"

Elena looked at Stefan and Caroline questioningly.

"What are you talking about, Caroline?" she asked, looking more intently at Stefan.

"Well he did want to keep it under wraps. I guess all murderers want to try to keep their victims a secret," Caroline said scathingly.

"Caroline, it wasn't," Stefan began, but she cut him off.

"After we got out of the hospital to answer questions about my mom's death," she said with a glaring look at Stefan, "the cops followed us outside and figured out I was a vampire and tried to attack."

"Again, you would have been dead if I hadn't stepped in," Stefan said, now letting out a little anger.

"What happened next?" Elena asked.

"We had them down and I would have left them or compelled them, but Stefan killed his guy and said it was the only way and that I should do the same," she said in contempt.

"So technically you're a murderer too, Barbie," Damon said with raised brows.

"Damon," Elena scalded. "You're not helping."

"No, I'll admit that I was at fault too for listening to him in the first place, but I couldn't help myself either with all of that blood," Caroline said, thinking of the moment.

"Stefan, is what she's saying true?" she asked looking at him in concern.

"Why would I lie!" Caroline screamed out in anger.

"Take it down a notch," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "We just want to get the whole story before passing judgment."

Caroline glared at him, but waited to hear what his response would be.

"We would have both been taken out if I hadn't reacted the way I did. And being part of the sheriff's group guaranteed they took vervain, so compulsion would have never worked," Stefan said thoughtfully. "It was us or them, and I chose us."

Elena sighed and sat down on Stefan's bed. "I feel like I don't know you anymore, Stefan," she said "The Stefan I knew would have thought it out instead of acting impulsive and like a, like a…"

"What? A monster? Stefan asked quietly.

"Slow down, no one's calling anyone a monster here. Why am I the referee here anyway," Damon said, shaking his head.

"No I'm pretty sure that's what she's getting at," Stefan said, walking over to Elena.

"Well she'd be right to think that, Stefan, because you are. You're a monster and I will never forgive you for this. When the sun goes down, I'm out of here. And then you better watch your back," Caroline snarled before rushing out of the room.

"Great, now how many people do we have out there against us…." Damon said sarcastically, but he stopped when he saw the angry staring contest going on between Elena and Stefan.

"I'd say I'd give you a moment alone, but I don't think that would be smart," Damon said with narrowed eyes.

"No, give us a minute. We need to talk," Elena said forcefully.

"Alright, but if I as so much hear your heartbeat accelerate, I'm storming in, Stef," Damon said with a last glance at Elena.

"Elena," Stefan started, but she cut him off.

"I can't do this anymore Stefan," Elena began. "We're over."

* * *

Caroline returned to the guest room and released the anger she had reeling throughout. With a shriek, she grabbed whatever was breakable and threw it across the room, relishing in the destruction she was causing.

She wanted more than anything to be out of the house, but the sunlight made that impossible at the time.

"UGH!" she groaned in frustration as she took a large vase and tossed it out the window. She leapt aside wearily as the curtain flapped. Letting in some sunlight before it fell back into place to cover the window.

There was a small knock at her door, then, followed promptly by the door opening.

"Do you have a good reason for going haywire, or are you trying to raise the dead your way?" John asked in irritation.

He looked exhausted and was still in the blooded clothes Caroline last saw him in as he laid in his bed. However, his eyes still held a tinge similar to that of a cobra waiting to strike, so she was wary of him.

"I'll try to go "Haywire" more quietly," she muttered as she sank into the chair near the desk.

John narrowed his eyes at her. "What's going on anyway? I first heard yelling from Stefan's room, go to investigate, but soon hear you tearing the place up in here. What did I miss?"

"The part where Stefan killed my mom and some other cops because he couldn't be bothered to wait around for another solution," Caroline said vehemently.

"Stefan killed Liz?" John said quietly. "To what gain? I thought she was a friend."

"Well apparently you're only a friend when you are still useful or, like, not going to get you killed. Apparently she wasn't worth saving," she said with a shudder.

John sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry about your mom, Caroline. I'm sorry any of this happened. If my plan would have worked, none of this would have happened….none of it," he said, sounding sad and tired beyond his years.

She looked him over for a bit surprised at his reaction, but shoved it away as her grief consumed her. "Look, I know you're trying to help and be all fatherly, but you haven't even done that for Elena so don't try it out on me with your "I'm sorry I didn't rid the world of vampires" speech."

When the words were out of her mouth, though, she instantly felt guilty. Though John didn't really seem fazed by it, she could tell it was hurtful.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm not good company right now. Stefan murdered my mom, I murdered my boyfriend, and this town is going to hell. All I want to do is run out of this house and out of town without looking back," she said wistfully.

"Then what's stopping you?" John replied. "Your loyalty to the friends you have left? Your need to help take Katherine down?"

She let out a humorless laugh. "Something as simple as the sun if you could believe it."

John ran his fingers through his hair, remembering the ring there.

"I'll tell you what. If your promise to stick around town for a little while, I'll let you borrow this little ring that helps you not burn in the sun," he said, waving his hand. "But I want it back."

Caroline looked at him hopefully, thinking it was too good to be true. "What's the catch?"

"Putting a good word in with my daughter, if you could believe it," he said, echoing Caroline's earlier words.

Caroline grinned a bit and nodded. "Alright. I promise."

Sighing he slid the ring off his finger and gave it to her. "Don't make me regret helping you."

"So in other words don't leave town with it or you'll hunt me down," she said in understanding. "Got it. Right now I just need out of this house."

"Have fun," he said, stifling a yawn.

Without another word, John left the room with Caroline following close behind. They exchanged a brief glance before they went their separate ways. John trudged back to his room, thankful for the silence and looking forward to some more well-needed rest.

He barely turned the doorknob before the screaming started.

* * *

Jeremy groaned as he heard a loud knocking from the front door. He couldn't have been asleep more than 2 hours. When he remembered it could be Elena coming back, he forced himself up and to the door.

When he opened it, he was surprised to find Bonnie there.

"Hey Jeremy. You're looking a little rough," she said pensively.

"Long night and not enough sleep. We almost took Katherine down last night but Klaus showed up and it didn't go our way," he explained, letting her inside and leading her to the living room.

"What!" she said in surprise. "Why didn't anyone let me know about this?"

"Well it wasn't exactly planned. I guess Jenna went off on her own to kill Katherine and John found her and backed her up," he began. "Elena found out Matt's death and ran off to the cemetery where Tyler and I followed and we all kinda fought until Damon came and Katherine ran away, Klaus close behind her."

"Matt's dead?" she said in shock, sinking onto the couch. She had a million other questions in regards to what happened, but this hit her first. "But how? Katherine can't ….Who did it?" she finally asked, realizing it couldn't have been Katherine.

Jeremy sighed and sat down next to her. "Caroline, but it was an accident. I guess Katherine compelled him there and he did something that made Caroline attack and when she stopped it was too late….Her mother is dead too."

"I can't believe it," Bonnie said in exasperation. "I thought the town would be safe for the time being, but instead it's being ripped apart from the inside…How could Caroline kill Matt and her mom?"

Jeremy looked at her in confusion. "Caroline didn't kill her mom, Katherine did."

Bonnie shook her head. "That's not possible. Someone killed her. If it wasn't Caroline, then who?"

"I don't know. I'm just telling you what I heard," Jeremy said, now confused as well.

Bonnie pushed her grief aside and started up. "I want details later about all of this, but now isn't the time. I wanted to talk to everyone about tonight. Is Elena here?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, she's at the boarding house. That's where everyone seems to be for the most part. Well, assuming Stefan and Caroline headed that way. But Damon and John are there with her. Tyler's upstairs."

"He's here?" Bonnie asked in confusion, looking around the room as if he'd pop up.

"He's sleeping upstairs," Jeremy explained. "We have to figure out a safe place for him tonight, though."

"This full moon thing is really annoying," Bonnie said with a sigh, rubbing her neck.

"Are you up for it tonight?" Jeremy asked.

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I just wish I knew what the grand plan was in the scheme of things. I mean, Katherine doesn't want her back just to say, "hey it's been a while,"" she said with an eye roll. "And then it doesn't help that Emily cryptically is telling me that it's going to be alright."

"You've been talking to dead people?" Jeremy said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her in concern.

Bonnie laughed and shook her head. "Sorta? I don't know. She comes to me in my dreams. Once she popped up when I was awake…but either way she keeps assuring me that I can do it, she believes in me…and that Katherine will get what she deserves."

"And you're trusting a dead friend of Katherine?" Jeremy said incredulously.

"There's a lot to be learned from the dead," a voice said coming into the room. "Don't underestimate their wisdom."

"Who the hell are you?" Jeremy asked, standing up.

"The name's James, and I'm her best shot at casting this spell tonight," he said with a wink.

**Decided to be nice and not leave you with any terribly evil cliffies today, haha. Wasn't the last episode of VD amazing! WHOO! Totally badass. Anyways, haha, enjoy and review. Title is by Hurt. Cheers.**


	23. Rolling in the Deep

Stefan paused, taken aback by her comment. "What?"

She stood up and wrapped her arms across her chest. All he had to do was look at her expression to see she wasn't kidding. Her eyes were shiny with tears that were threatening to spill.

"After everything we've been through, you can't stand by me this one time?" he said in despair. "I'm not perfect, Elena. I make mistakes like everyone else. Why is it this time that I mess up you can't stay with me?"

She closed her eyes, letting some tears release. "It's not just because of what you did now, Stefan. It's how you've been ever since…"

"Ever since Katherine forced me into the human blood diet again," he offered.

"Even before that you seemed distant with me. I don't know if it was because Katherine was back in town and you felt something for her," Elena began. "But you're just not the same. You don't think before you react; you are overprotective and overactive to the point where I don't know whether to consider you my boyfriend or my guardian, and now….you 're killing recklessly…"

Stefan let her words sink in, feeling each one like a lash at his back. "I can fix this," he whispered. "I will go back on the animal diet and I will get better. Please let me fix it."

"Even you can't fix everything, Stefan," she said with tears falling. She came closer until she was right in front of him. "I care about you Stefan, but I can't be with you. Not anymore. I think we only stayed together so long in the end out of need and fear of what was going on, but I can't live like that anymore."

"If you truly care about me, you couldn't just leave me, Elena," Stefan said, closing the distance and bringing his lips to hers. He kissed her passionately, almost urgently, as if trying to prove something. But after a few seconds, Elena pulled back, shaking her head.

"You'll find someone else who is your perfect match, Stefan. Someone who will be equally protective and caring; who will understand your faults and embrace them," she murmured.

"Like you with Damon," he suddenly shot out angrily. "Embracing his "faults."

Her eyes shot up in surprise at the direction he was taking the conversation in. "Excuse me?"

"I see where all of this is coming from," he said with a fire in his eyes. "I catch you in bed with Damon for the second time in a week and I'm supposed to believe this breakup is all about how I've failed you? Well you've failed me, Elena."

"How do you even throw Damon in on this conversation?" Elena said almost defensively. "I'm telling you why we aren't working and how we should end, and you're trying to throw in my face that I was somehow unfaithful to you with Damon?"

"Well you know what? You're right. I did fail you. I failed to see what kind of person you truly are," she said in anger. "And to tell the truth, I wasn't honest with you. Last night I did kiss Damon before passing out in his bed. It was the small nudge I needed to prove that I wasn't in love with you anymore."

"So you're saying you're leaving me for Damon," he said menacingly.

Suddenly, for the first time, Elena felt truly scared by Stefan. She hadn't meant to let the words rush out of her like that, but she couldn't stand him throwing Damon into it like that.

Before she responded, however, Damon was in the room staring between the two of them.

"You alright?" he said, shooting an angry look to Stefan.

She knew her heart was racing. Damon wasn't lying when he said if he heard her heart accelerate he would jump in.

But before any words could be said or punches thrown, they were all taken off guard by the sound of Caroline's screams from outside the house.

* * *

John had been the first one to the door having been on the stairwell only seconds before. He opened the front door to see Caroline writhing around on the grass in full daylight—her skin an angry, melting pink.

"Caroline," he yelled out. "Get inside!"

But she was lost to her pain and screams as she threw her hands over her face and tried to cover some of her body from the sun. He would have gone out there to get her, but he would do little to no good since he gave the ring to her: the ring that should have been protecting her right now.

"Move," a voice barked from behind him.

Stefan brushed by him and in seconds flat had Caroline in his arms and in the house.

"What happened?" Elena asked him as she was last to arrive.

"I don't know," John said in shock. "I have her my ring so she could go out in the sun and she….she started burning up anyway."

Elena stared at him in surprise before running off into the living room where Stefan took her.

"Don't touch me," she shrieked. "I don't want you here. Get out!"

"I'm just trying to help," Stefan said soothingly, but he backed away.

"Why don't you get some ice and towels, Stef," Damon suggested.

Stefan narrowed his eyes, but agreed, leaving the room and heading off to get what was needed.

"Oh my god, Caroline, are you ok?" Elena asked in concern, careful not to touch her. Her arms were red and blistery, along with her exposed legs and neck. Her face, it seemed, was the first thing she threw up her arms to protect.

"Were you trying to kill me?" she cried out in pain as she looked at John disdainfully. "I thought I could go out in the sun!"

"I swear I didn't know that would happen. Why would I wear the thing if it didn't work," John said looking highly confused.

"Why didn't it work?" Elena asked Damon.

Damon pretended to think it over. On one hand, he was thinking of ratting out Jeremy for planting the false ring, but he didn't think that would score points with Elena.

"Let me see it," he replied, looking at Caroline.

She painfully moved a bit until the ring was off and basically threw it at Damon. He studied it a bit before providing the answer he already knew.

"It's not the right ring. The stone set in here is onyx. Our daylight rings are made up of lapis lazuli. It's not just any old ugly, gaudy ring that will do the trick," he said, tossing the ring to John.

"This had to be it. It was the one Anna had. I even found it among the remains," John said with trepidation.

"Apparently that was just a regular ring. With that strong of a fire, I wouldn't be surprised if the real ring melted," Elena said

But John simply shook his head, looking deep in thought.

"I just wanted to get out of this place," Caroline whimpered as her skin began healing itself.

"You still can if you want," Elena offered. "I can drive you to my place until the sun is down. You can get in and out of the car through the garage."

Caroline seemed to brighten up at the idea, but it could have just been the coloring of her burns.

"Here, Caroline," Stefan said, coming into the room with wet towels and a bag of blood.

She grabbed them without acknowledging his help, draping the towels over her burnt flesh and guzzling the blood like it was a capri sun pouch.

"What happened?" Stefan asked, turning to John.

"You missed out on the fun discovery, but long story short, John thought he had a non-exploding in the sun ring when it turns out it was just a cracker jack toy," Damon said with raised eyes.

Stefan was about to question more, but Damon gave him a pointed look as if to say not to divulge in it any further.

"I'll get my car ready, Caroline. And when you're up to it, come to the garage and we'll leave," Elena said, making as if to leave the room.

"Wait, Elena. We weren't finished with our conversation," Stefan said.

She simply shook her head and stared him down. "I think everything that needed to be said is out, now. I'll talk to you later tonight anyway."

And with that she rushed out of the room and out to her car.

"Awkward much," Caroline complained as she shifted off the couch and into a sitting position.

"You sure you don't want to rest up a bit more before you…" Stefan began.

"The sooner I'm out of here the better," Caroline said harshly. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and made her way to the garage.

"So are you going to be at the festivities tonight, blondie?" Damon asked before she was out of sight.

"I don't know if you'll want me there. I might get confused and attack the wrong person," she said with a pointed look in Stefan's direction. "But you know what…count me in anyway."

"Uh oh, Stef, you're going to have kung fu Barbie all over your ass tonight," Damon said sarcastically.

He turned to ask John a question when Stefan attacked, toppling him to the ground.

* * *

Bonnie stared across a steaming mug of coffee as she took in the new information. For starters, she was surprised that Jenna was now completely in the know about everything. She was kind of relieved since now that she was aware, she could protect herself more. But it also meant there was danger there for her. That news aside coupled with everything Jeremy had told her in order to catch up had her thinking up so many questions it made her head spin.

Firstly she wondered where Caroline was and if she was ok—both ok mentally and physically. The last thing Bonnie needed was another rogue vampire killing people about on the town. Along with that idea was the question of who killed her mom in the first place.

So instead, she decided to try to answer the most pressing question she had in her head.

"How do I know if I can trust you?" she asked James.

She blushed a little as she realized she blurted it out while he was in conversation with Jenna and Alaric. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn't paid attention.

"Well besides Saltzman vouching for me—who by the way owes me for not beating his ass for the failed B&E—there's the fact that you can trust our bond as brother and sisters in arms or something like that. Witches stick together," he said with a shrug.

"No offense, but that's not good enough," Bonnie snipped. "I don't know you or your intentions. How do I know you're not going to—"

"What? Side with the happy vampires?" he said with a sigh. "I have nothing to do with any of this supernatural you have in this little town. I sell plants and herbs and keep to myself—no trouble. I wasn't even going to help you."

"Well then why did you?" Jeremy asked, speaking up from his perch on counter.

Alaric glanced at him warily, waiting for his answer as well.

"Partly because I took into account what Damon said about you being new…you could kill yourself and cause serious damage in the process," he began, looking at her carefully. "The other reason is personal…a close friend of mine was murdered by a vampire. I don't want them to win."

Bonnie hung her head and was suddenly sad for him. She wanted to press him further about his friend, but she held back.

"Alright then," she answered simply.

"So what's the plan then?" Jenna asked in the silence.

"Well you're going to be here safe and sound," Alaric said pointedly. "Jeremy and John are going to make sure Tyler is secured, and from there I assume Jeremy will come straight back here."

"Damn right you're coming back here," Jenna said swiftly. "If I have to be all cooped up and out of danger you do too. And if you don't, I'll just come and find you and drag you here myself."

"You wouldn't," Jeremy said in surprise.

"Try me," Jenna said with a glare.

"Well then while they are all safe is someone going to try to find Chloe?" Bonnie asked. "We can't have her rampaging god knows where."

"But we're safeguarded from that in the woods," Alaric replied. "James and I made sure of that."

"We're safe, not the town," Bonnie said. "Maybe we could get Caroline or Stefan or someone to find her before the spell tonight. I can always stall for time and…"

"I know where your mutt is," Isobel said, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "But you're not going to like it."

**Wow, I think this is the second chapter in a row without an evil cliffie, haha. I figured sometimes its tiring to be hanging from that ledge for so long and that sometimes a rest is needed before you have to hang on again. And I guess it's because when night falls, and I quote, "the shit will hit the fan," lol. Anyways, just setting up the groundwork so the massacre…I mean party…cough cough, can begin! ****Enjoy and review. Title is by Adele. Cheers.**


	24. Fall to Pieces

**A/N: I just wanted to say thanks for reading and sticking with this story. You all make me really happy and push me to write better and more frequently. ****Alright, enough mush. Here's the chapter.

* * *

**Damon shrugged out of Stefan's attack and put some distance between them.

"Let me guess….she told you," Damon said knowingly.

This only seemed to further piss Stefan off as he picked up a chair and launched it hard at Damon's chest. Damon sidestepped it easily and shook his head.

"Really mature, Stef," he said sounding amused.

"I'm just going to let you guys get whatever this is out of your system," John said with sigh.

"This? This is Damon moving in and stealing Elena from me," Stefan said with an evil glare.

John raised his brows in surprise, shaking his head. "If I had my way, I'd stake you both and be done with you so that Elena never had to be involved in any of this mess. But as it stands, today is not that day."

With that, he left the room, mumbling something under his breath.

"Are you going to fight me like a man or are you going to just duck and doge all day? I see you prefer the sneakier route lately," Stefan said with narrowed eyes.

"You know what? Fine, let's duke it out, brother," Damon said mischievously. "We haven't really had a good battle to the death fight lately. You sure you want to get all hot and bothered? Elena's not here to witness your heroic attempts….Well, then again, she's not exactly with you anymore, so…"

Stefan turned to grab something else to throw when Damon was beside him, catching him off guard and throwing him against the mantle. After that, they were both blurs of motion; arms punching and moving at weird angles, random bits of furniture breaking as they continued their fight.

At one point, Damon grabbed a piece from a broken chair and held Stefan to the ground. Stefan screamed out as the wood splintered through his shoulder and left him pinned like a bug.

"You think because you go on a little human diet bender you're going to be stronger than me?" Damon said, leaning toward his face. "It doesn't work that way…I thought it was brains over brawn? When did you lose the one thing going for you?"

Stefan spat blood out of his mouth and tried to sit up, but Damon held him down, using his other hand to twist the wood around in his flesh. Stefan growled and put his head back down on the ground.

Damon was about to say something, but Stefan spoke up first.

"Why couldn't you have just taken Katherine when she got back to town," Stefan said, sounding desperate. "Why did you have to take the one thing in my life that was worth living for? I know you said you'd make me miserable, but did you have to go this far?"

Damon looked taken aback by his sudden admission. He stood up, yanking the wooden piece out of Stefan's shoulder and throwing it on the floor.

"You lost her, Stefan, I didn't take her," Damon said plainly. "And as for Katherine, she was never mine to take to begin with. She never loved me. She may have never even have loved you, but she sure as hell would pick you over me."

Damon turned away and stared into the dying embers of the fireplace. "Elena's not a means to making you hate me more or to make you miserable. I've always had feelings for her like you suspected, Stefan. She finally saw that she had them too and made the final choice in all this…"

But his speech was cut off as Stefan swiftly attacked him from behind, driving the discarded wooden leg through his chest and into his lungs.

Stefan grabbed him in a choker hold as Damon gasped out in pain and surprise. "I'm done with you ruining my life. I should have killed you years ago," he said through gritted teeth.

"What? Do you thinking killing me now will help score points with your girlfriend? I mean, ex-girlfriend," Damon spat out as he struggled out of Stefan's grasp. The blood heavily flowing from his chest wasn't making it easier for him, however.

"No, but it'll at least give me some piece of mind to know that maybe I can finally have a life…one where you don't exist," Stefan said manically, quickly taking out the leg and raising it to go for the death blow.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" cried Elena's voice in horror as she rushed into the room and towards them.

"I'm doing you a favor," Stefan responded without pause, moving to drive the stake in.

Elena screamed, expecting the worst, but Damon made one final effort, throwing Stefan off his back and reeling into the couch.

She made as if to go check on Damon, but Stefan sprang up, grabbing her tightly in his arms.

"Stefan, let me go," Elena protested in alarm. "You're hurting me."

"Why him?" he asked her fervently, shaking her shoulders as he asked. "After all this time with me, how could you choose him? Why?"

"Let her go," Damon growled, yanking the wood out of his chest and glaring at him with fiery eyes.

"Answer me," he said, tightening his grip and staring at her. "What does he have that I don't?"

"Right now? My respect," Elena said angrily.

Surprising everyone, Stefan released her, only to bring his arm up and slap her hard across the face.

She was thrown back, both from the strike and the surprise.

"You're more like Katherine than you even know," Stefan said in disgust before hastily rushing out of the room and toward the front door.

He was one step out the front door when he felt the bullets rip through his body.

* * *

"How the hell did you get in here!" Alaric exclaimed as Isobel casually took a seat at the table.

"I used the front door, don't worry," she said with a smirk. "John invited me in, remember? So I can come and go as I please."

"Unfortunately," Jeremy murmured, remembering his last encounter with her.

"Aren't you Elena's mom…?" Jenna asked in confusion. "And Rick's wife…."

"She's not my wife. We promised until death do us part, so I'm not under any obligation," Rick said harshly.

"Ouch," Isobel said. "Very true, but still…"

"You're a vampire too? Jesus. Is there anyone in this town that's not a vampire," Jenna said in surprise.

"The list is dwindling a bit," Jeremy said humorlessly.

"So you're Isobel," James said, sizing her up. "Nice to put a name with a face."

"Not really," Rick responded.

"Well if we're done with this boring small talk, do you want to get down to business?" Isobel said impatiently. "Or do you want to turn Mystic Falls High into a bad version of teenage wolf?"

"Where's Chloe?" Bonnie asked reluctantly. She still didn't trust her, but any news was something helpful at this point.

"When I tell you the information, you can't act on it right away," Isobel started. "If you go rushing in to save her with guns blazing and all, she'll know I ratted her out. Cause let's face it, Katherine is pretty good at covering her tracks."

"So why bother to tell us then?" Jeremy asked in confusion.

Isobel glared at him like he was stupid. "So that when it's time you can save this pathetic town."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and jumped down from the counter. "I'm going to get Tyler for this, then. He'll want to hear about his sister."

When Jeremy was out of the room, Isobel looked at Jenna in amusement. "Since when are you in the know anyway? You and Jeremy are pretty useless in the whole of things."

Jenna glared and was about to respond when James cut her off.

"Now why exactly are we trusting her information here? She's supposed to be working for Katherine and now she said she's helping you. Seems like you have no loyalties to anyone besides yourself," James said, sizing her up.

"Who are you again?" Isobel said in annoyance.

"Where's my sister?" Tyler interrupted, coming into the room with Jeremy.

"All we need is the little blonde vampire and we'd be all set, right?" Isobel said with raised eyes.

"See there's a certain perfection to Katherine's plan with the wolf," Isobel started. "She wanted to put her in the place she thought a loose werewolf would do the most damage. And it's also a spot where some major damage was already done by the wolf's brother of all people."

They all thought about it for a while, but Tyler was the first to say it aloud.

"She's got her at the courthouse? But it's all burned up and it's right…."

"In the center of town," Bonnie finished in realization.

"It's crumbling apart right now so no one's bothering it. It has cells in the basement. And your friend died there with the help of a stupid mutt," Isobel said with a shrug. "It's a bit poetic…"

"So you're saying she's got my sister locked up in the middle of town until tonight?" Tyler said, clenching his hands into fists.

"It makes sense," Bonnie said quietly. "There's some street festival going on in town tonight. All those people will be out and about. Once she releases Chloe, that's plenty of people for her to kill or change."

"And then there would be a true massacre on our hands," Jeremy said, shaking his head.

"So we grab the girl before any of this happens, what's the problem here?" James asked in confusion.

Isobel rolled her eyes and ignored him. "As of right now, I believe she's on guard duty until she leaves tonight for your ritual, Bonnie."

"I know I have no idea as to the history with this vampire and everything, but why can't you all just gang up on her now if you know where she is?" James asked in consternation. "She's cornered and outnumbered."

"Because then her big bad maker will make this town a living hell and kill my daughter, that's why," Isobel said with a glare.

"How long should we wait to act, then?" Alaric asked, breaking the tension and silence her words caused.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she waits right until the moon crests to leave. It leaves her plenty of time to meet up in the woods," Isobel speculated. "I think our best bet would be to have someone waiting in the wings so to speak with a ton of wolfsbane tranqs so that if she gets out before she's secured, she's at least put out a bit."

"No one's hurting my sister," Tyler said with a snarl.

"Oh keep your pants on," Isobel said with a sigh. "Would you rather her be majorly sedated in a semi painful way, or shot, staked, or beheaded? 'Cause that's entirely up to you."

"We don't have enough people for this," Bonnie said, shaking her head. "I mean, we don't even know if Caroline can help us, so that leaves us with John and Jeremy with Tyler until he's secured and then Stefan and Damon against Katherine and probably Klaus. There's no one to be in town safely."

"You forgot me, witchy," Isobel said with a smirk.

"I don't count in people I can't trust," she shot back.

"I'll do it," Rick said carefully. "I don't need to be in the woods anyway. I'll go with Isobel and make sure she does her job."

"I don't need a babysitter, Rick," she said with a snarl, tinged with uncertainty.

"I can help to, just tell me what to do and I'll do it," Jenna said, looking around the room for support.

"The safest place for you right now is in this house, Jenna," Rick said.

"I'm going with Jeremy then," she said firmly. "He's a teenager for god sake. I'm not taking orders here. I'm going with him and John and then I'll rest easier."

She looked like she was going to have several protesters, but she put her hands up. "If you leave me here, I'll just sneak out of the house and go off to try to help anyway, so you're stuck with me."

Isobel narrowed her eyes, but smiled. "Well if you're anything like your sister, I'm betting that's where Elena learned her stubbornness from."

There was silence as Jenna looked at her trying to decide if that was a compliment or not. Soon after James was the first to break the silence.

"Alright team, now that we have that all figured out, I think it's my cue to have a one on one with Bonnie," he said getting serious. "If this spell is going to work, she has to be prepared."

"Have you ever raised the dead?" Rick asked in confusion.

"No, but I guess we'll see how that goes when we get to it," James replied with a smirk.

"Ready for some witches 101?" he asked her.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but agreed. "Whatever helps…Know anything to take out really old vampires?"

James laughed as they left the room. "Sorry, that's a bit more advanced. We'll cover that next week after you write a ten page paper covering the healing effects of herbs?"

"Who are you, Harry Potter, now?" Bonnie asked, shaking her head.

"Something like that….let's begin," James said, holding out his hands. "We have a few hours, let's not waste it."

**Oh man, I had a total revelation for the ending. I'm really stuck because I have 2 possible outcomes that are both pretty awesome. I mean, I'm not there yet. We're looking at maybe 5-6 chapters more to the story? Maybe? You know me; I write a lot, so 6 could be 16. Anyways, here's the chapter (Sorry it's 2 scenes, but they are both long so it's ok. It's where the main action is anyway). Enjoy and review. Title is by Velvet Revolver. Cheers.**


	25. All the Same To Me

Damon made as if to follow him, but Elena called for him to stop.

Sighing, he went back and knelt to check on her.

"Are you alright?" Damon started to ask.

In response, Elena shook her head, shedding a tear, and placed her head against Damon's shoulder. "I should be asking you that. You're the one with the gaping wound in your chest…"

"I expected him to hit me, but you? Stefan's really lost it," Damon said angrily, rubbing Elena's back consolingly. "And this is just a flesh wound, so don't worry about it."

She laughed a bit, pulling back to look at him when they heard the shots ring out.

Elena and Damon exchanged looks before heading to the hallway. When they got there, they saw John standing there with the gun still aiming at Stefan. He was collapsed on the floor, slowly rising up; two shots lodged in his shoulder and his kneecap.

John looked like he was going to fire again, but Damon quickly snatched it from his grasp.

"What the hell are you doing!" Elena yelled out as she ran for Stefan.

"Elena, don't," John said, angrily trying to shake Damon off him.

She had just gotten to Stefan when he turned his face to her, his eyes red and full of anger, and snarled. Seconds later he was out the door, leaving a small streak of blood behind as he went.

"You almost killed him, what were you…." Elena started.

"I heard you scream, so I grabbed my gun and came down the stairs," John said, finally released of Damon's grasp. "I was there just in time to see him hit you. I wasn't going to let that happen again. Who knows what he'll do the next time he sees you."

"That was a slap on this face…a deserved one," Elena said in resignation. "It doesn't mean you go around killing people."

"You didn't deserve that," Damon said quietly. "But I agree with John. And in all fairness, he was going to kill me first…you know the whole he was about to stake me to death thing, that almost happened had I not reacted quicker."

"So you think Stefan deserves to die!" she exclaimed in surprise. "That he's a lost cause who messes up and—"

"No. I think he should have been shot up, tied up, and thrown in the basement for a detox since he's clearly off his rocker," Damon said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not so much worried that he'll attack you again, but that he'll do something stupid in retaliation."

"Something extremely detrimental to what we are going up against tonight," John added crossly. "Stefan wouldn't," Elena started, but she stopped herself and sighed.

"He's already killed the sheriff and some of her men. He's already crossed the line of who he will and won't kill," Damon said as she paused. "We need to do damage control before we need to call Buffy into town."

"And _we_ meaning me and Daddy dearest here," Damon said quickly.

Elena frowned and was about to protest when John cut in.

"If you haven't noticed, I don't have any means of getting out in the sun right now," John replied.

"You make sure she doesn't pull a hero act, then," he said pointedly at Elena.

"I can't stay here. I have Caroline in the car. I have to take her home," Elena protested.

"Um, that won't be necessary," John said slowly, staring out the door.

Damon and Elena turned around to see the tail end of her car leaving the driveway—Stefan in the driver's seat.

* * *

Caroline sighed impatiently from the car. They were ready to leave while she was sprawled out back deep on the floor of the car to avoid sunlight when Elena had the idea to grab blankets from the house. She wanted her to have extra protection just in case Caroline was still too exposed.

She complained to Elena that she was fine and that the blankets would only be too itchy on her burns, but she insisted. She wasn't going to complain anymore since she was helping her out.

But now she was antsy. The garage door was open, the engine was running and Elena was still gone. If she could, she would just steal Elena's car and drive straight out of town. As such, she could only wait. She was about to get out of the car and make a dash for the door when she thought she heard gunshots.

"What the hell was that?" she thought in surprise. Then another thought hit her; it was the cops. They were looking for her after what she and Stefan did to the officers.

"Oh my god, they're probably shooting up the house right now," she said in a panic.

The fear paralyzed her to the seat for a minute, but she came to her senses when she realized the firing had stopped and there was no yelling. And, she now realized, no cars pulling into the driveway.

She let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as the driver's side door was suddenly flung open and Stefan was inside.

Seconds later he pulled out of the garage and out into the driveway.

"What the hell…get out of the car," Caroline screeched, trying to stay low in the seat. She went to slap him, but her hand reached a random ray of sunlight and the shrunk back with a hiss. "Go back and let me out. I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Then by all means, jump out of the car," Stefan replied almost out of breath, continuing his hurried pace.

"What, it's not bad enough that you off my mom, but you have to finish me off too?" she said, her anger battling with the fear that was starting to rise from being trapped in the car.

"I didn't do it on purpose, Caroline," he said, sounding exhausted. "I lost control…don't tell me that it's never happened to you."

Caroline pursed her lips and sighed, thinking of Matt. "That was different."

"Yeah, it was," he said angrily. "He wasn't trying to kill you or anything…He wasn't threating your existence and way of life. He was bleeding and the rest was your choice on how to act, and you chose wrong."

"Your choice was out of bloodlust, mine was out of self-preservation and saving you," Stefan continued. "I'm sorry if that choice makes me a monster. And in all honesty, I do regret killing her, Caroline. I wish I hadn't acted so rashly and that I was more levelheaded, but I wasn't. I failed in many ways, and I failed you. I'll always be sorry."

"Well I don't forgive you," she whispered shakily.

"That's fine. I'm not looking for forgiveness; I'm looking for acceptance," he said rubbing the spot on his chest where the bullet had entered. "I want you to recognize my mistake and instead of running from it, stay and fight."

"What, fight you?" Caroline said in confusion.

"No, stay tonight and help us. Put your hurt aside to help your friends—the ones who still care about you and who support you. Then if you still can't take it, leave…or try and kill me," Stefan replied wearily.

"So let me get this straight, you want me to help you? You want a _favor _from _me_? Seriously?" she said skeptically.

"It's not to help me; it's to help Elena and your friends. Unless they're not important anymore," he replied.

"Right now I just want to be out of the sun and as far away from you as possible," Caroline replied after a minute. "Whether I decide to help out or not, I'll decide on my own time…"

"Were you shot?" she said suddenly, smelling the lingering scent of blood.

"John got a few in. It figures he would shoot a man when his back was turned," he said angrily. "Luckily he got the shoulder and not the heart. The kneecap was out of spite."

"Too bad he missed," she said under her breath.

Stefan didn't respond and continued driving.

"Where the hell are we going anyway?" she complained.

"I didn't actually plan for you to be in the car; it was just an easy escape," Stefan said almost apologetically. "So right now I'm just dropping you off where I think you'll be safest."

"And that is?" she said annoyed.

He sighed before he decided to respond. "Elena's house."

"Is that a bad thing?" she said, sensing his hesitance.

"It is for me," he said moodily, gripping the steering wheel.

"As soon as we get there I'm going to open the door with her remote. You get out right away or I will drive away with you still in tow," Stefan added.

"Jeez, what did you do? Kill her?" she said sarcastically.

She went pale as she thought of it as an actual possibility.

"You didn't kill her, did you!" she said in a high pitched voice.

"No," he said, pulling into Elena's driveway and opening the garage door. "But she's as good as dead to me."

* * *

"Why are you doing all of this, Isobel? Rick asked as they sat uncomfortably in the living room.

Bonnie and James had retreated to the dining room while Jeremy and Jenna remained in the kitchen arguing about safety and who was staying and going. He figured he's let them figure it out on their own and left them inside. Unfortunately that meant Isobel went with him.

"Are you mad that I'm helping you?" she asked, looking him over.

"No, I'm just confused as to what your motives are, because your life might actually be at stake tonight. I didn't think you'd risk that," Rick said thoughtfully.

"Well my life is in the balance whether I help or not. I guess I'd rather go out fighting," she said with a shrug.

"What is your plan with me by the way?" she added, standing up to sit next to him on the couch. "I mean, what do you really think you can do if I decide to go rogue like you're afraid of? You have no ring, no special powers."

"I have vervain and pointy stakes," Rick said with a grin. "That and sadly, hope."

"Hope?" she said in confusion.

"Hope that this little stint to save your daughter's life means that your humanity is in there and alive," he said, studying her carefully. "And if that's so, I can only hope that's enough for you to not want to cause me harm."

She looked him over seriously, cocking her head to the side. "You think I'm getting in touch with my nicer side?"

"For all of our sakes, I hope so," he answered truthfully. "I'd really like to not have to worry about the enemy and a possible enemy within."

"Especially 'cause it's me?" she said with raised brows.

Rick just sighed and shook his head.

"Why Rick if I didn't know better, I'd think you don't actually want to kill me," she said with a chuckle.

"Oh I'm not saying that, I'm just saying—"he started.

His words were soon cut off when Isobel quickly leaned in and placed her lips against his. He was so surprised by her action that it actually took him a minute to pull away. When he did, his expression was one of bewilderment.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Something I wanted to do for a while," she said with a smirk, leaning in to kiss him again.

"Well you should have thought about that before you left me and did what you did" he said angrily, standing up and moving out of her reach.

"Rick," she said, standing up.

"No. You left me….You left me thinking that you were dead or worse. I was a wreck…I changed my life because of you," he started, venting off his frustrations. "You were my wife. You made me promises. _We_ made a life and you disregarded it for your own selfish reasons. Now I've moved on and I'm free of you."

Isobel blanched as the final words rang in her head, bringing her back to the conversation she had with him a few months back. She had compelled him to forget, but she was left with the memory: _Now your heart's free of me. It's easier this way…._

"I don't want you to be done with me," she blurted out, shaking herself from her memories.

"It's a little too late," Rick said, going as to head for the kitchen.

Isobel swiftly cut him off. "Alright, then kiss me. Kiss me like you mean it and if you don't feel anything for me, I'll leave you alone."

"That's not going to happen," he protested.

"What? Are you scared what your girlfriend will think or that you'll actually figure out you have feelings for me still?" she said slyly.

"Just one little kiss," she added as he looked at her silently.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Fine, just so that you're clear."

She smiled in response and stared at him expectantly.

Reluctantly, he leaned in and brought his lips to hers, this time not resisting her lips. She met them eagerly and kissed him with abandon. The kiss started off gentle, quickly moving into a fierce passion. Her hands went up and her fingers entwined in his hair. In response, his arms wrapped around her back; his left hand resting on the small of her back as he pushed her closer.

She felt like they could have stayed like that for a long time if it wasn't for the loud voice coming from behind them.

They instantly separated, Rick almost throwing her off him as he turned to see Jenna's stricken face.

"I was just coming in to say that Caroline's here and we have a problem, "she said quickly and uncomfortably. "But I see I've interrupted you…"

Rick stepped further away from Isobel and toward Jenna. "It's not—"

"It's never what it looks like, is it," Jenna said sharply. Her face showed devastation before it turned into a mask of fury. "Now if you two can keep it in your pants long enough to hear the details, follow me. But as soon as we're done, I want you out."

"I was planning on leaving anyway," Isobel said smugly.

"Both of you," she said pointedly, turning away from them and going back to the kitchen.

"Jenna," Rick stared, but she was already gone.

"I told you…you still have feelings for me," Isobel said triumphantly, making her way to the kitchen and leaving Rick alone in the living room.

He gripped his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair as he shook his head in anger.

"God damn it," he muttered, dreading the walk of shame to the kitchen.

**I thought that the story needed a little more love triangle action, haha, so why not. Anyways, we're getting close to the actual end people. What started as a short story back in May- MAY!- has turned into an epic journey that is still underway today. But whether the last chapters are in the single digits, like 7 or 9 or doubles in the 10-15, the end is sadly, nigh. So until that fateful day, enjoy and review. Title is by Anya Marina. You may remember it as the song that was playing when John visited Isobel for the first time and she had Cherie and Frank dancing (random side note, I know). Cheers.**


	26. The River Has Run Wild

A/N: Sorry. I've been terrible with the update. I had company over for a long time and couldn't leave them to go work on the story. That and when I had free time, I was reading other books and getting lost in their worlds instead of focusing on my story. Well that and I was working on my other FF that I'd been neglecting for a really long time. That being said, here is the next chapter!

**OH and can I point out vampire diaries totally stole a line from me, lol. Different characters, but same example:**

**Stefan: "What does he have that I don't?"**

**Elena: "Right now? My respect."**

**See… I totally had that line months ago ;) WOO!**

* * *

When Rick got to the kitchen he was met by a mischievous smirk from Isobel and a cold shoulder from Jenna. He tried to ignore them both and instead focused on Caroline, who was standing in the kitchen looking a mess.

"I heard Caroline was…" Bonnie said, coming into the room with James. She stopped as she took in her state.

"What happened to you?" she said, going over as if to give her a hug, but Caroline held her hands up.

"You do not need to be touching me right now. I'm like burnt and bloody. It' gross," she said with an eye roll.

"Why did you try to go out in the sun?" Bonnie asked in confusion.

"I wanted to leave the house after I found out what Stefan did. John let me borrow his ring but somehow he had the wrong one or something and I burned up as soon as I got off the porch," she said in exasperation.

"He let you borrow his ring?" Jeremy asked in surprise. A part of him was disappointed that John hadn't been the one to experience what Caroline had, but another side was a little relieved to know they had one more person, at least, on their side tonight.

"Never mind that, what did Stefan do?" Alaric asked with a wave of his hand.

Caroline sighed and took a seat at the table. "I'll tell you all that I know and add a bit from his side."

She was surprised that she was able to get through it without crying, but she managed it and was met by mixed reactions at the end.

"Where is he now?" Alaric asked, speaking up first.

Caroline shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine. He dropped me off and then drove out of here. I honestly don't know what he's planning. I just know he's freaking crazy."

"This can't be good," Jenna said, slumping over the counter. "I thought he was on our side and now he's…"

"This doesn't mean he's completely gone dark side on us," Bonnie said after a while. "He made some mistakes, but I think no matter what, he still wants to protect Elena."

"Umm, not when he was all like, "she's as good as dead to me," and looking all pouty," Caroline commented as she started pacing the room. "I'd say he's done trying to help and I say good riddance to that son of a …."

"We still need him to help us," Tyler interrupted. "My sister is tied up out there and it's bad enough I need a babysitter. This town needs all the help it can get…. I say we find him and either get his help….or take him down."

"Tough words coming from a wolf who can barely keep it together," Isobel replied snidely. "What do you suppose we do? Go ask him nicely what his plans are?"

"We call Damon or something. Ask him what's going on. We need to figure this out soon," Tyler said, glaring at her.

"Or we could just do a locator spell and find out where he is. Then you can see where to go from there," James suggested.

"See, I knew there had to be a reason you were here," Isobel replied.

"OK, so me and James will find him. Then…I think we should call Damon and have him track him down," Bonnie said, making as if to leave the room.

"No, I think Damon is the last person on earth Stefan wants to run into," Caroline said, stopping her pacing. "They were pretty angry with each other the last time I saw them and I don't think he can help him right now."

"Fine. Me and Rick will go. After we're done with that, we can go stake out the courthouse for the she wolf downtown," Isobel said. "And if he doesn't listen to reason, well….well let's just hope it won't come to that."

"I don't think you'd be convincing or helpful," Jenna said with a grimace.

"It's the best bet we have right now…Now get on it already you two," Isobel said, lightly shoving them out the door. "Let's get it together now before we all fall apart."

Rick followed them, glancing back apologetically at Jenna, but she looked away purposely and instead focused her attention on Jeremy.

"We might as well go to the Lockwood's to get Tyler ready, then," she said eagerly.

"Jenna I really don't think…" Jeremy began.

"I'm going. I'm just grabbing some knives and stuff just in case…be ready in five," She said, slamming the door and heading to the living room where Jeremy knew she kept the silver.

"What should I do then?" Caroline asked in surprise as the kitchen dwindled down to her, Jeremy, and Tyler.

"I'd say call Elena up so she doesn't worry about what happened to you," Jeremy said as he glared at the door Jenna left through. "And tell her what we're all doing. She needs to know. Then you can decide what you want to do."

"I personally hope you can help them take Katherine down. She deserves to die for all of this," Tyler said sternly. "If it wasn't for the full moon tonight…."

"I'm stuck here until the sun goes down anyway. So I have until then to decide, alright?" Caroline said with a sigh. "I'll go make the call then."

"Good luck, whichever way you choose," Tyler said as she went to leave the room.

She paused and looked at him seriously. "Thanks. Stay safe."

Taking a deep breath, she left the room and got her phone out, her mind still racing as to what she should do.

* * *

"I can't believe he just took off with Caroline," Elena said in shock. "She must be freaking out…I hope he doesn't…he wouldn't hurt her, would he?"

"I don't think so," Damon said after a minute. "He may be hopped up on human blood, but he still has his humanity in there. If he wanted Caroline out of the picture, he would have taken her out already."

"Well that's comforting," Elena said, hugging herself.

"I don't think we can trust him for tonight," John said shaking his head. "Maybe I should go with you, then, instead of going with Jeremy."

"Then who's going to make sure he's safe?" Elena protested.

"Relax. I wouldn't want John here watching my back in the woods. I'm not suicidal," he said with his eyes narrowed. "I trust Stefan will still help us, but even if he doesn't, I'm still strong enough to at least have a fighting chance."

"And you said you weren't suicidal…" Elena said, her eyes shooting up in worry.

"We'll figure this out, Elena," Damon said calmly. "But until then, I think you should go home."

"What!" he exclaimed.

"It's the safest place you have from Katherine and Klaus," he explained. "You didn't think you were going to be out wandering the woods tonight, were you?"

"I am not staying behind," she said in offense.

"You either stay behind on your own, or I'll compel you myself," Damon said threatingly.

"You wouldn't," she said, grasping her bracelet protectively.

"I would," he replied with raised brows.

The tension was broken when her cellphone went off.

"It's Caroline," she said with an angry glance at Damon. "And I'm coming."

With that, she left the room to talk to Caroline.

"Nice job there," John said rolling his eyes.

"I didn't see you stepping in to help," Damon said with a sigh.

"I want you to head over with Elena to her house and make sure she stays there by any means necessary," Damon said seriously.

"Oh so now you want me to compel her?" John said with raised brows.

Damon rushed to him in seconds and pinned him hard against the wall. John gasped out in surprise and pain, still feeling his injuries healing up.

"For once in your life I want you to do something that makes your god damn existence meaningful," Damon said with wide eyes. "You keep your daughter safe and if that means compelling her or tying her to her bed, you do it or so help me I have no more use for you."

"What's going on?" Elena asked in surprise as she came back into the room.

"John needed his spine put back into his back and I was just helping him out," Damon said, releasing him from his grip.

"Well we're gonna need everyone in one piece," Elena said, eyeing them suspiciously. "Caroline called. She said Stefan dropped her off and that Bonnie and James are doing a locator spell."

"I didn't think James gave a crap," Damon said in surprise.

"Well that's not all," Elena said.

She quickly told them what Caroline had to say about everyone parting ways and Isobel's plan to track Stefan down.

"I don't trust that bitch, why would we start now," Damon said in anger.

"Alaric will be with her," Elena replied. "Maybe he can help, cause let's face it, if he sees you he will want to go round."

"I agree with Damon, though," John said slowly. "Isobel is only ever out for herself. I don't trust her to help Stefan in any way."

"Then I go," Elena said firmly.

"What?" John and Damon said at the same time.

"Maybe I can talk him down…no hear me out," she said, holding her arms out. "He wasn't going to kill me or anything. He was angry and struck out, but I know Stefan. He would never do anything to put me in danger."

"Did you forget you have a target on your back that basically says kill me?" Damon said, his nostrils flaring. "You are the last person I would let near him, Elena."

"And I'm also the only person who can calm him down," she said, grabbing Damon's hands in her own.

"Please. I need you to trust me on this. If you let me do this….I'll stay home and I won't try to leave. I'll even let you compel me to stay," she said earnestly.

"I need a moment with Elena," Damon said, turning pointedly to John. "Go hideout till the sun goes down and the fun begins.

John gave him an angry glance, but left them alone.

When he was gone, Damon took Elena in his arms and hugged her.

"I'm going to be alright, Damon. You can't just lock me up and hope for the best," she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"I can try," he replied.

Sighing, she pulled away and looked him in the eyes. Then slowly she leaned in, bringing her lips to his. The response was instantaneous. He met her eagerly, his hands leaving her shoulders to rest at her waist and pushing her closer.

After a minute they broke away, Damon reluctantly moving off first.

"You trying to persuade me?" he said with a sly smile.

In response she gave him a quick kiss and looked him deep in the eyes. "I'm showing you that I trust you and that I want you to do the same. I love you."

He stroked her hair and kissed her back. "I love hearing you say that."

Before they knew it, they were collapsed onto the couch, Damon on top of her and kissing her passionately. Elena's hands were entwined in his hair as he trailed kisses down her neck. She gasped in surprise as she felt him playfully nibble at the back of her neck.

Soon he took her wrists in his hand and pinned them above her head. Her breath hitched and she smiled up at him and started kissing his chest. He stroked her hands gently, and before she could figure out what he was up to, he had her bracelet unclasped.

"I love you Elena, but I can't lose you," he said seriously, still keeping her wrists contained.

"You need to listen to me carefully," he said quickly, his eyes dilating as his voice took on a commanding tone.

Her face registered shock and betrayal before it went blank as he began to talk.

"You will take John with you to your house, no stops, and you will keep yourself locked up there safely," he began. "You will not invite anyone in and you will not leave unless I tell you to. If Stefan tries to come in, you will inject him with vervain and call me. You will not go with him."

Elena repeated his words in a trancelike state.

"I love you," he said sadly. "I can only hope you forgive me for this later, but you wouldn't listen no matter what I said."

Giving her one final kiss on the lips, he got up and went to find John.

"Suit up, John. You're going with Elena," he said as he barged into his room.

John raised his brows in surprise. "You talked her into it?"

"Something like that," he replied back, throwing the bracelet at John. He hissed as it burned his hands.

"Leave that behind for Elena to put on before you leave," he said sternly. "And grab a blanket to throw on yourself for the car ride."

Ten minutes later, Elena was in the driveway, Damon standing at the front to see her off.

"I'll see you later. I promise," he said to her sad eyes.

She nodded her head in response, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I better," she said as she drove off.

* * *

"I'm sorry that I'm not a better father," John said as he stayed crouched in the back seat of Damon's car.

Elena didn't respond but kept her eyes on the road.

"My brother…he was always the better man. He was the perfect son, brother, husband…I knew he would raise you right, and he did," John said sadly. "So I don't regret leaving you with him; I regret never knowing you more or being someone you could look up to as well."

"I did look up to you when I was little," Elena replied slowly. "But then it was like you didn't care anymore and you barely were around."

"I'm sorry…"

"I'm tired of your apologies," Elena said suddenly. "The past is the past. The best we can do now is trust each other and move on from there….I don't hate you. I can't say I love you, but I can say that right now, we're ok."

John shook his head in agreement. "Thanks for that, Elena."

"Just promise me you will try your best to keep Jeremy safe tonight," she said earnestly. "I know neither of you are happy with each other right now, but we are all still family. We can't go tearing each other up from the inside."

He was about to respond, but he was cut off by the sound of Elena's brakes.

"What's wrong?" he said in surprise.

"No, I can't…I'm not supposed to stop," Elena murmured frantically, but she also sounded scared.

"What is it?" John said, moving the blanket off a bit to see what was going on.

"It's Katherine," she whispered, grabbing the wheel and hitting the gas as if to go again.

But before she could say more, he heard glass breaking and Elena yell out.

"Get off me," she said, kicking out.

"You're coming with me," Katherine snarled.

"No," John yelled out, trying to grab Elena and keep her inside

He leaned forward and roughly pushed Katherine's arms out of the car. His arms and face burnt as the sun poured in. Although it was slowly beginning to set, it was still enough to do damage.

"Drive," he urged Elena as he fought off the pain.

She pushed on the gas, but Katherine wasn't giving up. Soon she was on the hood of the car, reaching in for Elena from the roof. The car began swerving as Elena tried to fight her off, but it was hard as she began to be pulled out.

Taking a deep breath and making a fast decision, John opened the side door.

"No matter what happens, keep driving till you get home," John said quickly. "I love you Elena."

Elena had no time to react. Seconds later, he launched himself out the side and onto the roof, taking Katherine out and rolling onto the side of the room.

Elena screamed out in horror and sadness as she watched them struggle on the road, smoke slowly rising from John's body.

"No!" she cried out, tears streaming from her face. She wanted to stop, but she couldn't. Instead she sobbed quietly as she took in the sacrifice John had made for her.

**OMG, tonight's episode was amazing! OMG! It inspired me to finish my chapter. Again, sorry for the wait, but here the chapter is for you. It's tying everything up now and bringing people where they need to be for the finale. Review and enjoy. Title is by Mads Langer. Cheers.**


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